Trapped Blossom
by muchachaporfavor
Summary: Her life was supposed to be normal. She was supposed to be a Plain Jane. But now her life has turned topsyturvy, all because of happenings from long ago. Will the craziness of everything change her for the better... or will it take her life? R&R, please.
1. Dreams

Summary: When a girl, Demi, moves to Italy and attends Azumano High School, she meets Krad and Dark. Both angels seem to know her, and both are fond of her. Unfortunately for Demi, her incarnation's past is about to catch up with her. What's a girl to do when she's being manipulated, given a difficult assignment, and dealing with raging hormones? R&R, please. 

Disclaimer: I cannot draw worth a damn. How the hell d'you think I could own such a beautifully done manga/Anime?

Author's Note: The plot's going to go by slowly. I'm tired of seeing fics in which the girl finds out about her past in the same day she attends the school. Has anyone else noticed that this always happens? Well anyways, I will be using a new character in this story. Wh00t!

**Demi:** Yeah. If you don't like OCs, then don't read it!

**Dark:** Why do people read things they know they won't like, anyway?

**Krad:** It's almost as stupid as you, Dark!

**Dark: **Why you-

**Demi:** ANYWAYS!

**Dark and Krad: **-blink-

**Hotaru:** I know, I know. I already posted this story. Originally, it had been a fic with Demi in it and set in Japan, but I changed it because I'd never done a YOU-IN-THE-STORY fanfiction and I wanted to try it. I had to update this, because I now have the first DVD of this Anime and all the houses were victorian! Even the guy who plays Daisuke's voice said in the commentary "What's up the accordian background music? It's like Italy or something..." and Vic (the guy who plays Dark) goes, "Yeah, it is Italy." Now that I think about it, that does make more sense. After all, Japan isn't a very big artsy place. Italy is as BIG part of the history of art. And also! Thing is, I had already promised my friend she could be… someone important that will be coming up soon, and she didn't want to be a 'you'. Soooo… I reposted this with Demi in it. Plus it makes more sense.

**Krad:** What if a really pretty person read this story, and saw the part where Dark calls Demi plain?

**Dark:** That person might get offended! Plus, I'd never call a pretty girl plain. Just Demi, since she is plain.

**Hotaru:** Exactly. And that's why I'm reposting this, with my plain ol' Demi in it.

**Demi:** -grits teeth- On with Chapter One: Dreams.

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_"How could you do this! I loved you! I loved you!" The shrill female voice rang throughout the silence of the night. Tears could be seen streaming down a woman's cheeks in the moonlight from under her hood, but her eyes were hidden from view. She seemed to be looking in the direction of a silhouette of a winged man._

"_Just because you were _my_ first love, doesn't mean you're my only love… I'm sorry," the man called out to her._

_She growled and shoved her hand in his direction, a thick and large vine growing out of the nearest building. "Sorry? SORRY! You abandoned me for her! Even if your other half loved her, you didn't have to love her back!" The vine swiped at the man, but he dodged and pierced it with a feather, black as night. The feather dissolved the vine._

"_You don't understand!" the male snarled irritably. "I can't make people fall in love! He couldn't- wouldn't- fall in love with you… if I didn't give in and love his sacred maiden back, I may not be reborn…" he trailed off._

"_No, _you_ don't understand," the woman shrieked, thrusting both arms in his direction. Three vines sprouted from the ground and lashed at him. Again, he dissolved them with ease._

"_I guess you leave me no choice. These innocents will suffer if you release your anger!" He threw many black feathers at her. Some pierced her clothes and pinned her to the building behind her, while others pierced her flesh._

_The woman cried out in pain. Tears streamed in constant rivers of sorrow down her cheeks as equally sorrowful streams of blood flowed down her body. The man's eyes- both a dark amethyst- softened as he stared wistfully at her._

"_I'm not… angry…" the woman choked out, a feather stuck in her neck causing her to have difficulty speaking without pain. "I… I'm heart… bro… ken," she breathed, allowing her body to go limp. One could assume her eyes were closed in a slumber of death._

_The man looked away, and, in the moonlight, his eyes shimmered with a thin layer of tears. "I'll always love you, Rayen… even if I'm supposed to love another…" With that, he spread his wings and took off._

A gasp in the dark sounded throughout the room. The moonlight seeped in through the large window, but just barely crept over the bed. Hazel eyes with flecks of pale green in them darted around the room as the owner of these orbs panted. "Wha… what was that dream?" asked a female voice. Luckily for the girl, the room wasn't unbearably silent, due to the fact her fan whirred above her. Still, though, she felt like she was burning up and that it was too quiet.

Kicking off her blanket, she snatched a black scrunchie off of her bedside table and drew her straight brown hair into a high ponytail. After completing the task, the brunette walked over to the window and opened it. She climbed onto the windowsill and cast a look over her shoulder into her room. The small, cozy room had cardboard boxes stacked everywhere. Glaring at them, she turned back around and proceeded to climb out of her window.

She stood on the sill, looking for a way up to her roof. The femme hoped that she'd be able to get up there. She had loved looking at the nighttime nature and listening to the sounds of the night back in Florida, and if she couldn't do that at her new home, then she'd be even unhappier about moving toItaly than she already was. Unfortunately, there wasn't anywhere to put her feet as she tried to climb up, and the brunette fell backwards with a scream. Oh, how she wished her parents were home. But no, they left her alone in the night to attend a party, which left her to cling to the branch she caught herself on.

She began to sob. "Why? Why me?" she whined as tears leaked out from her eyes. Her body swayed back and forth with her sobs. "I just want my life to go right! Where's my guardian angel gone?" The girl said in English, her American accent evident in her voice.

As if to answer her call, a figure swooped down from the sky and scooped her up into masculine arms. The girl shrieked and clung to the man's white robes, burying her face in his shoulder so she wouldn't have to see what was happening. "Please!" she screamed, still speaking in English. Although she knew Italian, she wasn't quite used to speaking it all the time. "Don't hurt me!" Why was it that her parents'- as well as her neighbors'- boss just _had_ to have a party tonight? Now she was going to be killed or kidnapped or raped or something. Great.

The air stopped rushing around them, and she heard the familiar whirling of her fan's blades. "What, may I ask, is your name," questioned a male in Italian, with a slight accent that she couldn't place((A/N: In the DVD, Krad has a Russian accent... or German or something)). Hazel eyes went wide and the girl pushed herself away from the man, falling onto her bed behind her. She squinted her eyes, and could slightly make out a long ponytail of golden hair… which got nearer… and nearer… and nearer… until she could finally feel warm breath on her face. The girl squinched her eyes shut and tilted her head away, and could feel lips press against her jaw.

"Um… Demi…" she murmured. She blinked when the lips and the breath disappeared. Demi could've sworn she saw a pair of pale blue eyes before she lay down and fell asleep again.

--

The next morning, Demi awakened to find her parents still asleep. She sighed and ran a hand through her brown hair, which now hung down because her ponytail was so loose. "That was a strange dream… I dreamt that one thing, then I dreamt about that blond dude…" she mused aloud. Demi got started on her daily morning ritual: shower, get ready for school, eat, and leave.

She stopped in the doorway of her new two-story house, a memory coming back to her.

_Demi walked into her home, a boring one-story house, after spending a week at a beach home with her best friend and her best friend's family._

"_How was your week, sweetie?" asked a loving female voice: her mom. Demi's eyes had averted from the hall to her real mom, smiling at the curly-haired blonde._

"_It was great! The beach house had a balcony and was three stories tall!" she exclaimed as she followed her mother into the dining room, where food was laid and the table was set. Her father sat at the head of the table, as usual. Demi sighed dreamily. "I wish we had a balcony… or at least a two-story house."_

Demi fixed her clothes- a pair of loose jeans and a plain white T-shirt- and locked the door before she exited the house and closed the door behind her. The sadness was obvious in her eyes as she pulled her still slightly wet hair into a low ponytail. People hated her here. Hell, she figured every other county hated Americans. She didn't blame them, since Demi hated America too. They were all so arrogant when it came to other cultures. Demi had been an avid Anime/videogame/JPOP fan, and had always been teased about it.

Sure,Anime was made inEurope as well as Japan,but when her father andItalian stepmother announced that they were going to move to Italy, Demi had been crushed. Move? To _Italy?_ Didn't they know that, though Demi had idolized Anime, that wasn't what she wanted? There was the whole learning another language thing. Demi had planned to learn the language anyway, but she'd planned to learn it at a slow pace. Now, her step mom tested her every day on her Italian! All her learning had gone by so fast, and most of it was done by cramming, which put a lot on unwanted stress on Demi.

Then, there was the most horrible fact of all: she had to leave everything- her friends, her school, the Circle K she used to go to every Friday for snacks after school, her language, the rest of her family, her hometown, and her boyfriend. Demi's eyes watered at the thought of him. He wasn't her boyfriend any more, she remembered. She'd told him she was leaving forItaly two weeks before she actually started packing, and the next day, she found him with one of the cheerleaders in the janitor's closet. It hadn't been pretty, and then she had to go through two weeks of seeing them together.

Finally, she arrived at the school. She was late by fifteen minutes, and, as she passed the Attendance Office on her way to the Main Office, the woman in the Attendance Office's window called out to her that she needed a pass. Demi turned to her to answer that she was new, and had to get her uniform, when the woman said, "Oh, honey… what's wrong? Did you get dumped?"

Demi sucked in a breath and nodded. "Y-yeah… I did…" she said in her flawless Italian. She silently thanked her step mom, even if the training she'd gone through had been taxing.

"Well, you seem like a nice girl. Some boys can be so horrible. So, what happened?" the woman questioned.

"I… would rather not talk about it," Demi answered as she lowered her eyes to the floor.

"Oh, well, just know you can come to me if you ever have boy trouble." She flashed a warm smile to Demi, who raised a brow. "I'm Nakashima Cho, by the way. No relation to Nakashima Mika, that one JPOPsinger. What's you name, dear?"

"…Craig Demi…" she said hesitantly. It felt weird to say her last name first.

"Deh-mee?" Cho repeated. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Demi-chan. I hope I'll see you around," she finished as she turned to her desk. Demi blinked confusedly at the website she was on, something about 'Gallery of Pictures of the Oh-So-Sexy Bishounen, the Phantom Thief Dark'. Demi put a hand to her mouth to keep from laughing. Must've been some Anime guy or something.

--

"I am _not_ wearing that," Demi said firmly for the hundredth time. After a long enrollment process and a few phone calls to verify thather parents were going to lether attend this school, this perky woman working in the Main Office had shoved a uniform in her face. She didn't know if there were any male teachers or staff in this school, but she was sure as hell not going to give any of the male students a chance at peeking when she'd walk up the stairs.

"Craig-san, you _must._" The woman insisted irately. "It's the school dress code."

"Can't I wear pants?" Demi pleaded.

"No. We do not mix and match our uniforms. If we were to give you a boy's uniform's pants and let you wear the girl's uniform's shirt, then if we get another new student, we may not be able to give them the uniform they want- their correct uniform," she explained. Demi could tell she was getting on this woman's nerves.

"Then give me a boy's uniform."

--

Demi smirked in triumph as she stopped in front of her classroom at Azumano High: Class 1A ((A/N: I have no idea how Japanese/Italian schools work, besides the fact that some of them have class on Saturdays for a few hours, too. Please bear with me)). She didn't bother with tucking in her boy's shirt into her uniform's maroon pants. The stupid uniform was already too small. She could've sworn the lady gave her a small one on purpose, just to annoy Demi. Shrugging, Demi opened the door to the classroom and walked in. She dug into her pocket to retrieve the note the lady had said to give to her teacher, which Demi had folded many times, and threw it to the male teacher.

"Ah, yes. I was expecting you, Craig-san…" The old man smiled at her. "I'm Uematsu-san. Just Uematsu-san. Go ahead and tell us a little about yourself."

Demi nodded and turned to the class, looking around before she said anything. A girl with short mahogany hair and brown eyes waved at her. Another girl who looked a lot like the first girl- except she had longer hair- was giggling to a group of girls. Demi swore she could hear her whisper something like, "What a weirdo! She's wearing a boy's uniform!" A boy with vivid red hair was watching her blankly, though a slight pink tint was in his cheeks. A blue-haired guy was staring at her with a bored expression. They were the only two not staring at her chest.

Demi crossed her arms over her chest to hide it, knowing her stupid white shirt was so tight that her bra probably showed through. Peachy. "I'm Craig Demi. I just moved here from America two days ago. I'm fifteen, like most of you are, and I realize I am wearing a boy's uniform. And y'know what? I don't think I'm a weirdo for doing so." She cast a glare at the popular group around that one longhaired girl. "At least I'm not walking around in a short skirt so everyone can have a peek when I go up the stairs," she finished with a smug smile.

Many of the boys began whispering, most saying, "Why didn't we think of that?" or "We should try that next time we're going up the stairs!" The gossiping girl and her gang began to say mean things about Demi for making their leader look stupid, and some of the other girls in the class blushed at Demi's logic.

"That's enough, Craig-san," Uematsu-san said sternly. "Take a seat next to Harada Riku, please. Harada-san, please raise you hand." The shorthaired girl who had waved raised her hand, and Demi smiled at her as she sat down. "Now, go back to working those problems I've assigned. Craig-san… just get the assignment from Harada-san and take the book on your desk home to do for homework." Demi nodded.

Riku handed her two pieces of paper. One had the assignment written on it, as well as some notes Demi would need in order to understand it. The other was a note.

_You're so right about what you said. How'd you manage to get a boy's uniform? I wish I could have. –Riku_

Demi smiled and wrote back, _Thanks for the notes, and the… uh… compliment? I annoyed the lady who works in the Main Office and I wouldn't leave until she gave me something other than the girl's uniform's short skirt. She probably gave me the boy's uniform just so she could get rid of me._ Demi put a cheekily smiling chibi face of herself next to her message.

The class went by quickly. Riku and Demi passed notes the whole time, and somehow Riku managed to finish her work so she could turn it in. As the two new friends exited the class, they passed by the longhaired girl's group, who was giggling about a Phantom Thief. "That's my sister, Risa. We're twins, but we're nothing alike in personality. She hangs out with the popular group, and I hang out with the people who actually want to be your friends." We laughed, but stopped when he heard a shrill shriek from one of the girls.

"AND I HEARD HE'S GOING TO STEAL THE _TRAPPED BLOSSOM_ TONIGHT!" the girl squealed.

"Hey, Riku? Who's that Phantom Thief person?" Demi asked.

Riku huffed and crossed her arms. "He's a jerk who stole my first kiss. He's a dirty pervert, too, 'cause he's a peeping tom."

Demi wrinkled her nose. "What an ass. And he steals things too?" Riku nodded. "What's the _Trapped Blossom_?"

Riku blinked and thought for a moment.Italy had a vast variety of artworks and statues, so it was hard to remember them all sometimes. She snapped her fingers when she remembered. "Oh! It's this one statue that was found on the side of a building. It's of a cloaked girl trapped by feathers with blossoming vines wrapping around her." She lowered her voice, "Legend has it that she was heartbroken and killed by her own lover. They say that an angel gave her a kiss, which enabled her to possess her reincarnation and kill the angel's nemesis."

Demi stared at her blankly, and then burst out laughing. "Good God! What kinda crap is that!" Riku laughed, too, though so many weird things have happened in the past year that she wouldn't be surprised if something like that happened. Demi sighed. "Still, though. It's a cool story. And the statue sounds really pretty."

"Yeah. I doubt Dark's gonna get it. I heard that this couple is going to buy it today at noon, so I think this will be one thing the pervert won't get." Riku smirked and crossed her arms. "Serves him right."

Through the rest of the day, Demi wondered about the legend of the _Trapped Blossom_ statue. While staring out the window at her left, her dream came back to her. Demi's hazel optics widened. _'Was my dream…'_ she thought, but stopped her thoughts. Riku had said an angel kissed the girl that had been trapped. Sighing with relief, since her dream hadn't had that in it, she closed her eyes. Demi had a feeling her dream was still somehow connected to the statue. In all the Animes and videogames she'd ever had, the pretty girl in the story would have a strange dream, and then her life would turn topsy-turvy.

Demi laughed quietly. _'No… I'm sure nothing's going to happen, then.'_ She thought. She thought this because Demi was not lovely like Risa, Risa's friends, or Riku, which meant she couldn't possibly be the 'pretty girl in the story'. Demi stood at 5'2", because of her Greek blood from her dad's side, and she leaned toward the chubby side. Hence, she had bigger breasts than most of the skinny Japanese girls in her classes, as well as a better-shaped butt. Hey, you have to admit: bigger girls have bigger goods. Demi's hair was a plain brown and hung to her waist and was frizzy. It wasn't layered or anything like Risa's hair, though. She had very light freckles around her nose and the tops of her cheeks, and her skin was scattered with light brown sun kisses from being under the Florida sun so much in her life. ((A/N: No, not moles, people. Moles are elevated dark spots. Sun kisses are just dark spots.)) Due to the sun, she was also cream coloured. Not pale, not tan, but in-between: cream coloured. Her hazel eyes were so plain and boring. She wished they could at least be completely green instead of having green flecks in them. Now the hazel eyes began to water with tears. _'No wonder Drew dumped me… I'm ugly…'_ she thought sadly.

In the seat to Demi's left, Daisuke's head turned toward Demi without his permission. _'Dark… what's wrong?'_ he thought to the thief.

:_I feel like I know her…:_ Dark's deep voice thought back.

Daisuke tilted his head at Demi, who was so deep in thought she didn't even notice that he was watching her eyes tear up slightly. She was biting her lower lip and not blinking, as if to try to expose the tears to so much air that they dried up, so she wouldn't have to cry. _'Really?'_

Dark shrugged in Daisuke's mind. _:Nah. I couldn't know an unattractive girl.:_

Daisuke's brows furrowed. _'Dark! That's mean!'_

"Daisuke-san, I know I'm horrendously ugly, but could you please not stare?" Demi joked with a smile, though her eyes were sad. Daisuke could tell she was faking it.

_:See? Even she agrees with me.:_ Dark said. He snickered as Daisuke frowned.

"You're not ugly, Demi-san…" he trailed off, however. After all, Daisuke's heart belonged to Riku. But he was saying the truth. Demi wasn't extremely grotesque, but then she wasn't a beauty queen, either. She was… "Just plain," Daisuke- or, should I say, Dark?- continued. Daisuke glared at Dark for taking control of him for that moment. _'Dark!'_ he scolded.

_:What? I know you think so, too. I can read your thoughts, y'know.:_ Daisuke gulped slightly, seeing as Dark was right.

Demi's eyes became even more sullen. "Yeah…" she said with a forced giggle. Daisuke immediately felt bad and proceeded to lecture Dark on how that was not what you said to a depressed girl, whether she was plain or not.

--

"Plain…" Demi muttered on her way home. She opened the door to her house and…

"SURPRISE!" her dad yelled. Demi yelped and fell backward. Standing up, she looked into her house and saw that everything was unpacked.

Demi smiled slightly. "Is my room done, too?" she asked. Demi was happy about this little surprise, since she's been so sure she would have to unpack by herself. After all, her parents worked all day and went to parties at night.

"Yep. Why don't you go up there and see how it looks?" her step mom asked slyly. Demi blinked, confused at her grin, and ran up the stairs to her room. Opening the door, she gasped.

Her room, once with plain white walls and boxes everywhere, had become Arabian-ish. The walls were painted a sultry red that faded into purple towards the bottom of the floor. Her bed was gone. Instead, in the lower left hand corner of the room (when you were standing in the doorway), there were layers of thick, purple, velvety blankets that made a sort of low mattress. Red curtains hung from the ceiling around the blankets, and there were many fuchsia and gold pillows. The plush carpet was fluffy and black. Three feet away from her bed, against the wall, stood an antique bookshelf filled with books on drawing, Anime, painting, sculpting, and artworks in the world. There were also many mangas. The bookshelf was about six feet long, and as tall as Demi, so there were a lot of books. About a foot away from the bookshelf was her closet. It was opened, and Demi could see a whole new wardrobe inside. On the right wall was a desk, a computer, and a TV along with her game system, games, and Anime videos already set up on a rack next to it.

Her window, which was across from where she stood in her doorway, was gone, and now all that was there was the square hole it used to be in and layers of see-though red and purple curtains. There were many layers, so she didn't have to worry about peeping toms seeing her. She figured she wouldn't have to worry about burglars, either, since the curtains were so long and flowy that the burglar would probably get caught in them. And next to the window… Demi gasped.

"THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOOOOOU!" she shouted in English, totally forgetting her Japanese due to her excitement. A large easel was situated next to the window, as well as new painting supplies- a lot of them. She hugged her dad, then her step mom.

"And look, Demi," her step mom instructed, pointing next to the easel. Demi turned her gaze to it, wondering what else she could have possibly gotten. Her breath caught in her throat.

"…the _Trapped Blossom_ statue…" she breathed. Her parents nodded. The statue was sculpted well. It was almost like it wasn't carved at all, but instead the marble formed around a real girl, real wings, and real blossoming vines.

"We hope you like your new room. It cost a fortune," her dad said with a laugh. Demi released her parents and smiled.

"I like it. I really do," she said.

"Alright, well, we'll leave you to do your homework. Don't die from the excitement, okay?" her step mom joked. Demi shook her head, still smiling, as her parents left. She closed her door and walked to her window. It was now dark outside. Where had the time gone? She must have spent more time than she thought getting home. Demi pushed back the curtains and screamed.

"Think she found the balcony?" her dad asked downstairs. Her step mom nodded with a smile.

Back upstairs, however, her back was pressed against a man. His gloved hand was over her mouth to keep her from screaming, and his arm was wrapped tightly around her waist to keep her from moving her arms. The man didn't have to worry about Demi stomping on the floor, since he'd picked her up off of it. He watched as the police force searched the streets below.

Demi glared and bit his hand, causing him to let go of her with a growl. She fell to the floor and immediately backed away from him. "Who are you!" she hissed, groping the floor for a weapon. She found a flashlight on the floor. Picking it up, she turned it on and shined it on him. Her jaw dropped.

The man wore a black sweater that was tight on him and shiny leather pants that hugged his long legs. Black angel wings protruded from his back. His purple hair was long in the front and shined in the dying sun's light. The man had deep amethyst eyes that were narrowed at her for biting him. He was very tan, and very very gorgeous.

"What was that for!" he hissed.

Demi rolled her eyes. "Yeah. I'm gonna see a guy on my balcony and not get freaked out." She said sarcastically. It was hard to be sarcastic in another language… but anyway… "Now, who are you?"

The man looked genuinely surprised. "You mean you don't know me? Wow… guess I still have a ways to go. ((A/N: LOL. I got this line from Tales of Symphonia. If you haven't played that game, DO IT.))" He walked over to her and bent down so his face was extremely close to Demi's. He chuckled as he watched her tilt her head away. "Don't worry. I'm not going to kiss you. The great Phantom Thief Dark doesn't waste his kisses on plain girls."

Demi glared and smacked him on the top of the head. "You! Who would want a kiss from you?" she whispered angrily in English. Dark tilted his head at her, a confused expression on his face. She resisted the urge to 'aww', since he looked cute when he did that. Instead, she just snickered. She wouldn't let this Dark guy know she thought he was hot. If that happened, well… she didn't want to end up like one of those fangirls from school.

"Come again?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing," Demi said in a singsong tone of voice, waving her hand as if to wave the thought away.

Dark smirked and purred, "Confessing your undying love to me?"

Demi glared at him. She didn't blush. He may be hot, but she wasn't one to fall in love for someone's looks. So, she could sincerely say, "No."

Dark's smirk fell and he raised a brow. "Really?" He helped her up, and, just as she was about to thank him, he put his hands on her waist and stared deep into her eyes. He was, again, genuinely surprised. Every girl he met at least somewhat fell in love with him. Even Riku liked him a teeny tiny bit because he was sexy, though she hated him for being a 'pervert'. It still counted for something.

"Yes, really." She replied, putting her hands on his and removing them from her waist gently. He blinked in surprise.

_:Finally someone to deflate your swelled head:_ Daisuke said in Dark's mind.

_'She just needs a little convincing,'_ Dark thought back. He put one hand on the small of her back and pushed Demi towards him, the other hand moving behind her head. "Are you sure about that?" he murmured in her ear.

Demi sighed and rolled her eyes. "I'm sure," she said firmly, trying to pull out of his embrace. Dark frowned. Okay, if she wanted to play hard to get, he'd have to pull out the big guns. Dark leaned in to kiss her. Her eyes widened and she pushed him away, squeaking, "No!"

Dark blinked. "What's wrong?" he asked. There had to be something wrong. She couldn't possibly resist him.

Demi glared at him. "My first kiss is saved, buster!" Yes, Demi had never been kissed. Even her old boyfriend hadn't shown her that much affection. "I want my first kiss to be perfect! It has to be with a guy I love, and who loves me! It has to be in the right setting! It has to make me see fireworks behind my eyelids! And you, Mr. Phantom Thief, are most certainly not the person who could give me any of that!" she snarled. "So keep your lips away from mine!"

Dark blinked again. She really didn't want him? At all? Dark growled. No heterosexual woman had ever turned him down. It made Demi a bit more endearing, but he wouldn't let her know that. "Whatever. I don't need to waste my time on a plain girl, anyway." With that, he climbed out the window and took to the skies.

Demi sighed. "You and just about every other boy on the planet, Dark," she muttered.

Out in the sky, Dark sighed. "What a rotten night. First, those icky policewomen mob me again. Then, the statue's been sold. And finally, a plain girl- the kind that's usually so easy to seduce- tells me she sincerely doesn't want me." The more Dark thought about it, the more he wanted to make her love him. It just didn't seem right for a girl to dislike him. He remembered how steady her heartbeat had been when he'd held her close. And all of a sudden, he wasn't Dark anymore.

Daisuke blinked as he landed in front of his house and groaned. And he and Dark had just started to like the same girl, too. "Mom… we have a problem…"

Back at Demi's house, she was silently crying as she stood outside on her window. Tears ran down her cheeks, and her eyes were sad, but she didn't sob. She wanted to, though, to get it all out. But because of her stepmother's influence, she's developed the habit of bottling her feelings inside until she has a break down. "I'm… plain…" she whispered in English into the night.

"Hm?" Demi turned to find the blond angel was standing behind her. His head was tilted slightly to the side, and at the sight of her tears, he stepped forward. "Demi-san? What is the matter?" he asked as he lifted his hand to wipe her tears away. She wiped them away herself before he could do so.

"Who are you?" she asked exasperatedly.

"I came just last night, remember?" He asked with a slight smirk.

"You never did tell me your name," she replied, crossing her arms. "Although, I wouldn't blame you. I'm probably too plain for you to wanna waste words on me."

"Plain?" he parroted. Demi turned her hazel orbs to the ground below. "You're not plain, Demi-san," he said softly. "You have this aura of cheerful yet, at the same time, sad elegance about you."

Demi shrugged. "Aura isn't enough for boys of this generation, sir."

"Krad," he corrected. "I suppose beauty is, then?" he questioned. Demi nodded. Krad stepped up to her and wrapped his arm around her from behind. "You are beautiful, Demi-san. Especially when you cry like you were."

Demi blushed. "R-really?" she asked as she shifted so she wouldn't be so close to him. The attempt was done in vain, since he just pulled her closer.

"Yes. You are not too attractive, however, but that's a good thing. If you were too lovely, everyone would expect you to always be lovely. Whenever you slipped up, you would be shunned harshly," he explained. Demi thought about it. He was right. She smiled. Had God really sent her a guardian angel? Had He sent her Krad?

"Thank you, Krad-san," she mumbled sleepily. Krad gave a few quiet chuckles as she leaned against him. He picked her up and took her back into the room, setting her on her new 'bed'. Kneeling down, he planted a tender kiss on her eyelid.

"Sweet dreams, Demi-san…" he whispered before plucking a white feather from his left wing and putting it in her hair. As the next breeze fluttered through, he left.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oooh… it sucks. I know. Not much action. Oh well. At least it's ten WORD pages long. xD Y'know, I never understood why- in the Anime- everything was written in Japanese,when they're in Italy.Uh, hello? It's called subtitles in Japanese, people! Sheesh. Anyway...Please review! I like to know what I need to improve, what's good, ideas, suggestions, comments, questions, and anything, really. Dark and Krad will give you hugs if you do!

**Dark and Krad:** What! We will not!

**Hotaru:** You will, or I'll have Uematsu-san sexually harass you two in the story.

**Dark and Krad: **o.0;; -bows- We obey!

**Demi: **-laughs hysterically-

**Hotaru:** That's what I thought. –drags the other two off-

**Demi:** Bye! –follows-


	2. Forbidden Flower

Disclaimer: Me no ownie D N Angel. I ownie Demi. –nodnod-

Author's Note: Whoops…

**Dark:** What's whoops?

**Hotaru:** I messed up the summary in the last chapter. It was supposed to be a love… polygon… thing. Dark and Daisuke both love Demi but Demi loves Krad and Krad loves nobody and I think Satoshi likes Daisuke in the mangas… -not sure- I know Riku likes Daisuke, too. And Risa's frickin' obsessed with Dark.

**Daisuke:** You're dragging me into this lovey-dovey mess? –sweatdrop-

**Hotaru:** No complaints, you!

**Krad:** Why don't you just edit it?

**Hotaru:** I'm too lazy.

**Dark, Daisuke, and Krad:** -sweatdrop-

**Hotaru:** I'm going to get to it eventually… just not now. xD –laughs maniacally-

**Dark:** Well anyway…

**Daisuke:** Here's chapter two…

**Krad:** Forbidden Flower.

CHAPTER TWO START

_Demi ran towards a streetlight. It was so dark she could barely see her nose in front of her face. Only the stars, which were dim due to clouds, lit her way. She panted and leaned against the pole of the streetlamp, catching her breath. It was so dark… this kind of darkness scared her. She couldn't see past a one-foot radius. It terrified her when she heard the sound of fluttering wings._

_She pounded on the streetlamp's pole, trying to get the light to come on. The fluttering grew louder… louder… The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Her stalker was getting closer… closer…_

_And then the fluttering stopped. The light came on._

_But then she realized she was alone. Nobody stood nearby in the now illuminated streets. Being completely alone also made her uneasy. She longed for someone- anyone- to be by her side. For a sign of life._

_The eerie silence and loneliness got to her, and she took off running again. Her legs took her past the buildings, past the sidewalks, past all the park equipment and even past the forest behind the town. She dropped to her knees, exhausted, in a field of lush green grass._

_Lifting her head, her hazel eyes widened at the sight of the most beautiful lotus flower she'd ever seen. Demi loved lotuses- they were her absolute favourite flower. This one was lovely. It wasn't a plant, but instead gemstones carved to make a lotus. It had emerald for the stem, peridot for the new green-ish petals, diamond for the petals that have long since bloomed, and topaz for the middle part._

_The middle part of the gemstone lotus began to glow, and a circle of white glowing energy floated up until it was eye level with Demi. Inside the pure white light, Demi saw flashes of what had happened in the last 48 hours. She saw when Krad had saved her the night before she started school. Demi watched as Daisuke stared at her that time before she caught him and he called her plain. She wanted to look away at the sight of Dark and herself, when he'd been trying to seduce her, but she couldn't._

_He was too gorgeous to stop looking, as much as she hated to admit._

'_Plain…' The word resonated in her mind. Both Dark and Daisuke had called her plain. It was strange. She'd never been called that before, but then, two boys who are totally different called her the exact same thing in one day. Could Daisuke somehow know Dark?_

_As if her thoughts were connected to the light ball, an image of Daisuke appeared. When she'd first seen him as she was introducing herself. Her eyes softened at him and she reached up to touch the ball of light. Her fingertips tingled with a warm sensation as they touched the radiant light, and the image rippled like water._

_Daisuke was truly adorable, she noticed now. Demi didn't quite know what to think of him after he'd called her plain, though. She had thought he was quiet, shy, …cute… things like that. Why was it that cute/hot boys were destined to hurt her feelings by saying mean things?_

_But then again, Krad hadn't said anything to her that was hurtful. On the contrary, he had been so gentle with her. An image of Krad appeared, and she yelped as the warmth became fiery hot. She jerked her hand back and blew on it, wondering why that had happened. Her eyes flickered back to the light, and two green eyes were staring straight into hers. Demi screamed as a hand reached out and grasped her… heart? Yes, it had to be. That's where the pain was coming from._

_She could barely make out the ghostly form of a woman jumping into her body before she fell to the ground and closed her eyes. Demi found she was too weak to open them or move._

_:Now awaken me…: Was the last thing Demi heard before blacking out._

Demi awoke the next morning to the smell of bacon wafting up the stairs and into her room. She blinked her hazel eyes, trying to remember what she'd dreamt about. It was all so foggy… why couldn't she remember? She usually never had trouble remembering her dreams. All she remembered was a feminine voice- one of an older girl- saying something about awakening.

Demi showered, brushed her hair and teeth, and changed into a clean uniform. She was about to leave her room, ready for school an hour before she had to leave, when she spotted make-up on a dresser- which was inside her large closet. Where had that come from (both that make-up and the dresser)?

Walking closer, she found a note written in purple ink from her step mom. _Demi, I know you don't like wearing make-up, but I thought you might meet some cute boys at your new school, and just in case…_ Demi didn't bother to read the rest. She rolled her eyes as she crumpled up the note and threw it into the trash. She was going to walk away when she heard it again.

_Plain… plain… plainplainplainplainplainPLAIN!_

The brunette hesitantly averted her eyes back to the make-up. As she reached for the lip-gloss and eyeliner, she decided a little make-up wouldn't hurt. The lip-gloss was a nice orangey pink color, and it had a gold sheen to it. The eyeliner was liquid and black. Demi applied the lip-gloss and then carefully put on the eyeliner. She stepped back to look at her in the mirror, and frowned. It was too much. She retreated to the bathroom and wiped off the eyeliner until it was gone, then went looked in the mirror of the bathroom.

Even the lip-gloss was too much. It was weird to see herself wearing make-up, even if only a little lip-gloss. It would take a lot of getting used to. Especially the slightly sticky feel of the lip-gloss. That would definitely take time to adapt to. Demi pondered over whether or not she should just wipe the lip-gloss off, too, but figured it wasn't a good idea. To get what she wanted, she would have to work for it. And why wait until tomorrow to do something you can do today? So, Demi reluctantly went downstairs- the lip-gloss still on her lips- to eat breakfast.

She eyed the grits, one piece of toast, two pancakes, and four pieces of bacon. Oh, how badly she wanted it. Demi knew, however, that eating so much of those kinds of foods would make her gain weight. Looking down at her chubbiness, she decided she really needed to _lose_ weight.

She peeked into the lunch her step mom had made for her. Two puddings, a Ziploc bag of about twenty gummi bears, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a beef sandwich with mayonnaise, and a Coca Cola. It made her stomach growl with hunger to look at the lunch, but she decided she would make a healthier lunch and give this one away. As for breakfast, she took it over to her neighbor, and he happily ate it.

Demi walked back into her own home and plucked one carrot and one stalk of celery from the refrigerator. After rinsing the vegetables and putting them in a plastic Ziploc bag together, she took out a packet of light ranch dip and put it in a paper bag along with her vegetables. She then took out six strawberries, rinsed them, put them in a plastic bag, and inserted them into her brown bag. Twelve grapes, one slice of wheat bread, and a large water bottle later (which was too big for the bag, so she put it in her schoolbag) later, Demi had her lunch packed. She sighed at the paper bag of health food. Why couldn't junk food have zero fat in it?

…_Later that day…_

At lunch, Takeshi, Masashiro, and Daisuke were all sitting at a table outside. Daisuke and Masashiro were laughing at something Takeshi was saying when suddenly Takeshi stopped. Daisuke and Masashiro both gave him questioning looks.

"What's up, Takeshi? You usually don't stop in the middle of a joke… heck, you don't stop talking ever!" Masashiro asked. Takeshi glared at Masashiro, who was now fighting to keep his milk spurting from his nose.

"I don't talk a lot!" Takeshi retorted before gazing past the two. They both turned around, and Daisuke blinked at Demi, who was sitting alone. Where was Riku? Weren't she and Demi friends? It made Daisuke feel bad that she was sitting all alone. As if feeling his eyes on her, she looked up and caught his gaze and held it. She didn't hide the depression and low self esteem in her eyes. The intensity of it was so extreme Daisuke flushed and looked away.

Takeshi stood up and walked over to Demi. Masashiro blinked. "What d'you suppose he's up to?" Demi smiled at Takeshi and stood up, the two walking back to where Daisuke and Masashiro sat. "Dude, she's coming over!" Masashiro hissed.

Demi laughed at something Takeshi said. "Of course not… Riku's sick. I asked Risa." Daisuke mentally nodded. That explained why she'd been all by herself. She took a seat across from Daisuke, next to Takeshi.

"Hey guys, Demi's sitting with us today, alright?" Takeshi asked. He sent each of them a glare, however, that said even if it weren't okay, she'd be sitting there anyway. Daisuke flinched and Masashiro sighed before laughing nervously.

"Takeshi-kun… stop looking psychotic, please…" Demi said tentatively. Takeshi, Daisuke and Masashiro all started laughing at how calmly and seriously she'd said that. The brunette blinked in confusion. "…What?"

…_At the end of the school day…_

"You know, you don't live too far from where I do…" Daisuke mused aloud, looking around as he walked with Demi. Yes, walked. Demi wanted to walk rather than take the train ((A/N: God, I can't figure what that thing is called for the life of me)). When Daisuke had asked why, she'd blushed and said nothing. ((A/N: …Exercise. As in… she's trying to lose weight. xD)) They had gotten to know each other better at lunch, so they could now be dubbed 'good friends'. So much that Daisuke, being the gentleman he is, offered to carry Demi's schoolbag.

Demi's eyebrows rose and she glanced around briefly before shrugging and looking back ahead. "I wouldn't know. I haven't lived here long enough to recognize much, after all."

Daisuke frowned, looking a bit concerned. "Then how are you going to get home?" Demi was about to reply when they heard the distant chiming of a clock. One… two… three… four… five chimes. Daisuke's eyes widened. His mom had said to be home at five fifteen, and his house was still twenty minutes away if he kept going this pace.

"SHOOT!" he shouted, starting off at a run.

Demi immediately took off after him. "WAIT! DAISUKE-KUN! I DON'T KNOW THE WAY HOME!" she shouted. For a while she was caught up with him, but after two minutes of nonstop running Demi was getting a stitch in her side and her legs felt like they were going to break in half. She caught onto a lamppost, swinging herself around and sinking down to the sidewalk. Her tired hazel eyes looked up through her slightly tangled strands at Daisuke's retreating back.

"Wow… he's really… athletic…" she breathed between gasps, flopping back onto the sidewalk. After a minute her breathing was back to normal. Demi stood, wincing at the slight ache in her legs, and started walking. _"I guess I could find my way…"_ she thought.

However, after one hour, Demi was still wandering. Her parents worked until 8:00 PM. The only reason they'd been home yesterday was probably because they had to make sure the statue got there. She sighed. That meant nobody even knew she was lost, which meant nobody was searching for her. Peachy.

She passed an electronics shop and stopped to rest. Demi wrinkled her nose at the sight of the news. She never watched the news. Her facial expression returned to normal, however, at the thought that this may be the only chance she gets to watch TV for the rest of the night.

"**Phantom Thief Dark should be appearing any time now. For those of you just tuning in, his latest warning letter reads, 'Tonight at 6:30 PM, I will take the Forbidden Flower." **A picture of the artwork he was after appeared on the screen, and Demi's eyes widened as bits of her dream came back to her.

The flower… from her dream.

Demi knew you didn't just coincidentally get dreams about gemstone flowers you've never seen or heard of in all your life. She pressed her hands on the glass of the window, willing the reporter to tell her where he'd be appearing.

"**Let's take a look down at the Azumano Museum of Mixed Media…"**

"Where's that?" Demi whispered, staring at the screen. The museum had a huge glass structure made to look like a fountain of water in the front. Searchlights were being beamed into the air. She whirled around the instant she noticed that and ran up the hill. She ran and ran until she came to a park. Her eyes searched the starry skies and she spotted the light of the searchlights not too far away.

Demi ran faster and longer than she'd ever run in her life. She had to have that flower. Her dream came rushing back to her as she hurried. Why had she gotten burned when Krad's image appeared? Maybe if she could obtain the Forbidden Flower, she could find out?

Her eyes lit up as she sighted the back of the museum. Demi gasped, however, upon getting closer and seeing guards stationed there. She tripped when she tried to stop and fell before some bushes. The bushes rustled because her hands had hit them, and, peeking through the leaves and branches, she could see the officers pointing towards her. Demi managed to suppress her squeak as crawled away, face scrunching every time she put pressure on her right knee. Only when she was sure they wouldn't find her did she check it. Demi cringed at the sight of her knee. She seemed to have skinned it when she fell.

Peeking out from the clump of trees she was behind, she saw the guards thoroughly searching the bushes and trees. Demi was about to go when she realized something.

…She had absolutely no gadgets or disguise whatsoever.

"Well, then. I'll put this gifted brain to use," she muttered, thinking. After a moment or so, she smirked and put her hair up in a bun, making sure her scrunchie held it tight. Demi then wriggled her arms into her shirt and slipped it up so it covered her head. She unbuttoned the shirt to make a sufficient eyehole. Then, after much difficulty, she tore her pant leg into a strip long enough to tie around her head three times, which is just what she did. Demi didn't want the shirt to fall off and reveal her identity. She tore off some more pant leg and with even more difficulty managed to tie each of her fingertips in its own strip. Leaving fingerprints equals busted.

"Bras and underwear are just like bathing suits… right?" she muttered to herself before checking on the guards. They were spreading out to search. Demi looked to the museum. There was a small window leading into a basement or something. For a moment she thought what she was doing was crazy, but then again, so was having a dream about something you'd never heard about.

She took a deep breath and quietly got out of the brush, then made a break for the window. When she picked up enough speed and was almost there, she fell back and slid, kicking the window open and sliding inside. Quickly she grabbed a painting being stored down there and held the white backside of it up to the broken window, to make it look like the window. Demi held her breath as a flashlight's light shone through the painting, and she let the breath out when it passed away.

Demi peered out the window to see the guards were now searching the small woods around the museum and some were too busy with the upper windows to pay attention to the one she broke. Demi quickly made her way around the artwork and boxes in the basement. She tiptoed up the stairs and to the door to the main floor. If her assumptions that the guards would want easy access to every room were correct, the door would be unlocked.

Demi grinned as the doorknob turned easily. She heard footsteps, so she didn't open the door just yet. "Dark's arrived!" she heard someone shout out of a walkie-talkie. "Officers stationed on the Main Floor report to a window! We don't want him getting in th……" the walkie-talkie voice faded out as the guards' footsteps faded, too.

'Phantom Thief Demi' peeked outside. Seeing the coast was clear, she took off her shoes and put them on her hands. She didn't want her shoes to click or clap against the floor, plus, if she had to punch someone, it would protect her hand. Demi tiptoe-ran to a dimly glowing screen on the wall. She could hear faint footsteps. A guard was on patrol. Demi read the screen quickly for any special exhibits. Sure enough, the Forbidden Flower was on there. Floor 2 out of 10. The footsteps were getting faster and closer.

Demi fought back a squeak as she tiptoe-ran to the stairs, thinking gratefully, _"Thank God it's only one flight of stairs for me, but eight for Dark. I might have a chance to get there before he does."_ She thrust her shoes into her large but tight pockets. They dug into her thighs, but some things were more important (like not getting caught), right? Demi started to carefully crawl up the stairs on her hands and knees.

When she was finally to the point where she could peek over the top step of the stairs, she saw a flashlight's light on the wall to her right at the end of the hall that the stairs were in. The hall the stairs were located in lead to a hall that went to the left, it seemed, because that's where the light was coming from. Demi gulped and thought quickly. The stairs' walls were very close. The ceiling was very high up.

The guard rounded to corner and flashed his light down the hall and the stairs. He walked over and stood on the second step, shining his light down the stairs. Seeing nothing, he was going to turn around to go back. Demi fought back a growl of frustration from was she was… ten feet off the ground. Her hands and feet were pressed firmly against the walls, and that was all that was holding her up.

Demi couldn't stay like this much longer. She pressed harder with her feet and her right hand, her left hand carefully squeezing past her shoes into her pocket. Thank God her father had given her money to buy lunch every day, just in case she decided she wanted something. She took out a coin and tossed it to the lower part of the stairs, her left hand immediately returning to its place on the wall. _"Come on… come on…"_

Sure enough, the clattering on the coin caught the guard's attention and he began jogging down the stairs. Seeing as his shoes were causing such a racket, Demi had no worries when her arms and legs gave out and she dropped to the ground with a thump. She bit her lip hard, trying not to cry out in pain. Her body protested, but nevertheless she got up and continued on her way. She had to get the Forbidden Flower. Something inside her hurt her even more at the thought of not having it.

The rest of the way was pretty easy. Her timing was lucky, seeing as the guards ran by a hall she was hiding in the shadows of. Their walkie-talkies blared "GET HIM!" Demi frowned. Had he already gotten the Forbidden Flower? Something told her that Dark was too sneaky to get caught while escaping, and she pressed onward, running down the way the guards had come from. If they'd been running from there… then maybe the flower was down there?

Demi slipped into a door as footsteps sounded, closing the door quickly but silently. She sighed mentally and slowly turned the knob back into place, turning around. The door opened again and pushed her behind it. Demi couldn't help but yelp.

"Who's there?" asked a voice. Wait, Demi knew that voice. A blush quickly rose into Demi's cheeks and she was glad he wouldn't be able to tell it was _her_ sitting in her bra. Dark looked surprised at the sight of her. His expression faded into his usual arrogant one and he smirked. "Well, now… I didn't know my fangirls were willing to _strip_ for me."

Demi glared at him and stood. "I am not! I'm here for the flower!" she protested, faking a very high-pitched voice.

"Uh-huh," he said, sounding unconvinced. "You don't have to be ashamed. I'm flattered, actually." Demi twitched at this. He was so self-absorbed. "Now tell me, beautiful," he said, helping her up and pressing her to him. Something about her body was familiar to him, but he shook it off. "…How'd you make it up here on your own?"

She pushed him away, and Dark remembered Demi for a moment. To be sure, he questioned, "…Demi?" To keep up the act, she put her hands on her hips.

"No!" she said in the high-pitched voice, pretending to be hurt. "Who's _she_?" she snapped, acting as if she was jealous that he'd know a certain girl's name. Demi 'tch'ed and shook her head. "What_ever_. I'm here for the… HEY!"

Dark turned and smirked at her, holding up the flower. "Forbidden Flower?" he asked playfully. "Any other flower I'd give you, babe," he said, putting the stem in her cleavage. Demi twitched and moved to snatch it, but he plucked it out and chuckled. "But not this one." With that, he opened the window and ducked as a searchlight passed by. Demi ducked and crawled over to him. She was going to grab for his ankles but he jumped out the window and began to fly off. Demi growled and jumped up onto the windowsill, and then jumped out after him with her arms outstretched.

Dark grunted as he felt a sudden weight on his legs. Looking down, his amethyst eyes spotted the girl clinging to the lower half of him. He sighed in annoyance, but his eyes widened slightly as she wriggled and grabbed at him, climbing up to settle herself between his wings. It was getting to be too much weight for Wiz ((A/N: I know. The Anime calls the rabbit-thing With. It's WIZ in the manga, so there)), and he began to drop into a street. Demi's eyes lit up as she noted that her house was only three houses back.

"Sorry," she muttered as she reached over his shoulder, snatched the Forbidden Flower, put her feet on his back, and pushed off. The purple-haired teen managed to grab the shirt on her head and pull it off as she pushed back. She felt bad as the Phantom Thief fell forward, but she hoped he didn't catch sight of her. Thanks to her best friend back in America, who had taught her how to do a back flip into her pool, she back flipped successfully, landing on her injured knee. Demi whimpered as she stood and made a break for her neighbor's fence. Dark got up, cringing as his back hurt a little. Demi quickly jumped her neighbor's fence, bruising her inner thigh in the process.

Dark whirled around to find that the girl was gone. He peered into the dark. "…Demi?" he questioned for a second time that night. He could've sworn he'd caught sight of Demi's face after he pulled off the shirt. No, Demi didn't particularly care for him, so why would she follow him out to a museum? It had to be one of his fangirls trying to get him to chase after them to reclaim the Forbidden Flower.

But still… He could clearly see the image of Demi's chesnut brown, slightly tangled hair flying around her face. The older boy could see her hazel eyes glimmering in triumph, her freckles barely visible in the moonlight. He bent down and picked up a pale green scrunchie that lay on the ground. Even if Dark was just imagining things, the thought of Demi being so daring as to try to steal something and actually succeed made his body begin to warm up. Soon, Dark's hair shortened and became red and gravity-defying. His eyes changed from their mature-looking purple to a younger red. He was Daisuke.

Daisuke shook his head as he began walking home, stuffing the unfamiliar scrunchie in his pants pocket. _"Dark! What's wrong with you? Do you… do you actually like-"_

_:Don't even go there, Daisuke. It's just the thought of a wild girl.:_

"…_Well, Demi _is_ wild."_

_:Just shut up, okay:_ Dark shouted in his head, then began to grumble.

Daisuke winced as a small headache came on. _"Geez, Dark. If you don't like her, why are you getting so wor-"_

_:You don't wanna finish that sentence, Daisuke.:_ Daisuke sighed and nodded. After all, if Dark _did_ like Demi, he could very easily take over Daisuke's body to spend time with her. Then what would Riku think? Not only would Daisuke lose his girlfriend, but also Demi would lose a friend. The thought of her sitting alone at lunch all the time made Daisuke's heart ache a little. It was then that Dark spat, _:Humph. And _you're_ making assumptions that _I_ like Demi. Sheesh.:_ Daisuke blushed and the two fell into silence.

…_Back at Demi's house…_

Demi made it home twenty minutes before her parents were due home. That is, if they didn't go to a party again. She'd put the Forbidden Flower on her dresser, picked out some PJs, taken a shower, doctored herself up, changed, and threw her torn up uniform pants into the bottom of the large trash can outside at the end of the driveway. As she walked back into her room, Demi sighed. "What a night…" she muttered. She glanced at the Forbidden Flower before she walked over.

She picked it up and tapped it. Nothing happened. Demi stared at the gemstone flower a little longer before shrugging. Maybe she could figure out how it works later. Demi smiled at the thought of the night's events. She was so glad she didn't have homework to do tonight. Thanks to Daisuke, who'd helped her complete it before school was out. She blushed at the thought of him. He was really nice, she'd found out at lunch. Demi giggled a little as she put the Forbidden Flower behind the Trapped Blossom's ear.

A white light shot out of it and hit Demi in the chest, knocking her to her bed. Before passing out on her bed, Demi heard the voice from her dream say in her head, _:Finally.:_

CHAPTER TWO END

**Hotaru:** Indeed 'Finally'. Took me forever and a half to write this chapter. I wanted to make sure Demi was realistic in the 'Phantom Thief Demi' scene, though. Funny thing is… I had a hard time planning the scene up until now. While I was typing it all just came to me. By the way, I mean "gifted" as in "really smart", not like "special powers." I myself am a gifted kid, so maybe that's why all that just came to me. But wouldn't that be so cool to actually do! I wish I could do that. Seriously. Well anyway, it's 1 AM, so I'm gonna go. See ya!


	3. Awakened Blossom

Disclaimer: D.N.Angel is NOT mine… only Demi and Rayen and the parts of the plot that aren't familiar to you, meaning I must have made them up, meaning they're mine unless I say otherwise. Yeah. Woah… that's a serious disclaimer for once… Straaaange.

Author's Note: Gah. Highschool sucks.

**Dark:** It's really funny. Hotaru had been all excited to go to highschool.

**Krad:** "Finally I won't have to guess at what highschool-aged characters are learning! HOORAY!" she said.

**Demi:** But now that she sees how hard the work is, she's having seconds thoughts.

**Daisuke:** She doesn't even know what the normal classes are doing!

**Satoshi:** Hotaru-san has all honors classes for a freshman. Geometry Honors, Biology Honors, and Gifted English…

**Hotaru:** I hate it! We have all these _extra_ assignments we have to do 'cause we're gifted! Take my advice: being smart is NOT all it's cracked up to be. Settle for the normal classes and do your best in those… Gifted/Honors isn't worth it.

**Demi:** Especially when you try to write fanfictions that have characters who take normal classes… then you never know what the normal classes actually do.

**Hotaru:** -sigh- So if it takes a while for me to write a chapter of any of my stories, it's because…

**Daisuke:** One, she's too busy to write.

**Dark:** Two, she's tired out from highschool and is barely staying awake while doing homework.

**Satoshi:** Three, she can't figure out what the normal classes are doing.

**Krad:** Four, she's too busy to find out what the normal classes are doing from her friends.

**Demi:** Five, … -blink- Wait a minute! There is no five!

**Hotaru:** Yup.

**Demi:** I see how it is. You give _them_ things to say, but not me! Well fine! –stomps off-

**Hotaru:** Ah… -sweatdrop- Here's chapter three: Awakened Blossom

CHAPTER THREE START

Demi awoke with a start and sat up quickly, glancing around. Last night's events came rushing back to her, and she smiled groggily with pride shining in her hazel eyes. She had actually beaten Dark to an artwork. It made her giggle just thinking about it.

But she also remembered that light. She tentatively turned her eyes on the Trapped Blossom statue, slowly surveying the statue for any sign of abnormality until she came to the Forbidden Flower, where her eyes locked on it. Demi stood and walked over, hesitantly reaching out to touch it. When her hand was a few inches away, her fingers recoiled as she considered just leaving it be. Finally she tapped it, snapping her hand to her chest and ducking quickly when she did. She stayed crouched in this position, and glanced up after seconds of silence.

Nothing had happened.

Demi sighed with relief and smiled, standing up. She ran a hand through her hair as she went to her closet and got out fresh clothes. Then Demi retreated to the shower.

Fifteen minutes later she was out, dry, and in her towel in the bathroom. Demi moved to pick up her underwear when a vaguely familiar voice called loudly, "Goooood morning!"

Demi screamed in surprise and pulled her towel closer to herself, looking around the bathroom in alarm. She heard a rather amused laugh and the voice- feminine- said, "Here! The mirror."

The shaken girl turned to the mirror and stepped up to it, staring at the lady in the mirror. Well, not a lady, per se… she seemed only a year or two older than Demi. The girl had brown hair with darker brown streaks here and there, thick and thin. Her hair was extremely shiny and hung super straight to her midriff. Demi blinked, wondering how she had managed that. She'd have to straighten her hair with a Chi iron every single day or something… The girl's eyes were the exact opposite of Demi's: jade green with flecks of hazel. Her lashes were long and mascara-ed. The girl's lips were glossed with a color just a shade darker than Demi's own natural lip color, and they were full like Demi's, too. The major difference between the two was that the girl in the mirror was curvy without being a little on the chubby side, unlike Demi. Demi could not tell what she was wearing, for only her head and shoulders were visible.

"Wha… wha…" Demi managed to breathe out in dazed shock. She got a better grip on reality and snapped, "What the _crap_!"

The girl pouted slightly and Demi could see her move to cross her arms after flipping her hair over her shoulders. "Is that any way to greet your past self?" she asked in a mock-hurt voice.

"Past…?" Demi parroted, confused. Her eyes widened and she shook her head. "Wait, … wait! I'm Christian! I don't believe in reincarnations!" She put her hands over her ears to block out sound and said for good measure, "LALALA! I'M NOT LISTENING! YOU CAN'T CONVERT MEEE!"

_:You cannot escape…:_ Demi meeped and took her hands off her ears in fright. Her 'past self' had just talked in the freakiest voice a female could manage… _inside Demi's head_. The girl laughed and added in normal speech, "Besides, who said it wasn't the work of God that brought me back?"

Demi had been about to retort, but then she thought and shrugged. "Oh… Well, either He planned to reincarnate you into me, or He planned to make me go insane. I'm thinkin' he just wanted me to go coo-coo for Coco Puffs… if ya know what I mean." ((A/N: I do not own Coco Puffs… or that phrase.))

The girl in the mirror blinked and gave her a weirded out look. "Uh… riiight." She coughed and her face faded into neutrality. "But seriously, I'm you from a past life. My name is Rayen. I was a painting of a wood nymph… brought to life."

Demi raised her eyebrows, disbelieving. She had to have gone crazy. She was about to tell this Rayen girl that she was done being insane and was going to get mental help, but then she remembered.

_The man looked away, and, in the moonlight, his eyes shimmered with a thin layer of tears. "I'll always love you, Rayen… even if I'm supposed to love another…" With that, he spread his wings and took off._

Demi gasped and jumped back, her right index finger lifting to point in an astonished manner at Rayen. "You- you're…" Rayen nodded. Demi let her hand drop back to her side, staring blankly at Rayen for a moment. Demi knew you don't just get dreams about people you don't know and then suddenly go crazy and meet them in a mirror. Demi had been perfectly sane just yesterday. Okay, so a freshman femme going after an artwork wasn't exactly sane, but she was mostly sane. "A painting…?" she questioned. "But how is that possible? Have you always been in my body? Why are you here?" she asked quickly, eyes wide with curiosity and a need to know the answers to her inquiries.

"Yes, a painting," Rayen replied, looking rather bored. She explained to Demi, "When an artist puts effort, determination, and positive emotions into an artwork, the artist gives it enough power to somehow interact with the outside world. Because the emotions were good ones- like love and happiness, for example- the artwork isn't evil… Well, unless something happens to the artwork while it's in the real world to change its side. You know, the sides of good and evil?" She didn't wait for Demi to respond before continuing on, "If negative emotions- hatred, sadness- are channeled into the artwork, the artwork uses its power to wreak havoc on the world. Unlike 'good' artworks, these artworks cannot become good." She finished with a firm nod to herself.

Demi stared blankly for a moment, going over all that in her head. It wasn't too hard to understand, but it was strange to understand. She didn't _want_ to understand. Part of her still thought she was going crazy, and that this Rayen girl was merely a product of her insanity. But a bigger part of her felt that she had to understand. That part was the one that had control. "Woah… that's… wow." She blinked. "Strange."

Rayen nodded with a shrug as she replied, "Kinda. Yeah."

Demi shook her head, still a little disbelieving. "What about my other questions?" she asked, examining the tile floors of the bathroom. The longer she looked at Rayen, the weirder she felt, so she determinedly kept her hazel gaze on the floor.

"Oh, right. Uh… no, I haven't always been in your body. I'm here-"

Demi interrupted without looking up, "How'd you get in, then?"

Demi heard her incarnation sigh irritably. "If you had some patience, I would have already told you." Rayen 'tch'ed and continued, "My soul was seeping into your body from the moment you saw my statue. I was completely transferred from the Forbidden Flower to you when you were hit by that beam of light… my soul."

The younger of the two nodded in understanding, and then looked up to glare at Rayen. "That hurt, you know… being slammed seven feet away." Rayen gave her a slight sneer and rolled her eyes. "How'd you get into the Forbidden Flower, anyway?"

Demi could've sworn she saw Rayen's expression falter, but she seemed to regain composure so quickly that Demi wasn't entirely sure. "You ask too many questions," she said firmly, narrowing her eyes at Demi.

The plain girl held up her hands in defense. "Sor-_ree_. Geez." She rolled her eyes at her past self. "You'd think I'd be allowed to know this stuff… I am your reincarnation, after all."

Rayen sighed and Demi crossed her arms. "Fine. I suppose I can tell you… when I feel like it."

Demi growled a little. Well, she made a sound as close to a growl as she could. It came out more like a gurgle. "Fine. Whatever." She muttered.

Rayen ignored her annoyed attitude. "Anyway, I'm here because-"

"Please don't tell me I've broken some jewel or whatever and I have to find all the pieces. I hate that plot!" Demi groaned, crossing her fingers. ((A/N: No, I don't own InuYasha. xD Just a little anti-InuYasha humor. If you like InuYasha, good for you… but I dislike that plot. A lot. So yeah.))

"No!" Rayen protested, looking horrified. "Thank God, _no_," she breathed, sounding very relieved.

Demi blinked and smiled slightly, also looking relieved. "Oh. Carry on, then." She shifted her weight to one leg as she waited.

"I'm here to help eliminate Dark Mousy."

Demi blinked, unmoving. After a long pause of complete quiet, Demi said slowly, "I thought you were the good kind of artwork…"

Rayen furrowed her eyebrows and her mouth hung open, looking extremely insulted. "I am!" she shouted, throwing her arm out to the side in an angry gesticulation.

Demi tried to raise one eyebrow, failed miserably, and settled for raising them both. "…Killing someone isn't something good people go around doing…" she said, as if she were talking to a slow child.

Rayen made a sound that was a mixture of displeasure and anger. "_What_! He steals! He's stolen so much over the years that he might as well be on _death row_!" Demi opened her mouth, and then closed it and nodded. Rayen sighed and ran a hand through her hair, still looking peeved but glad that Demi saw it how she did. "I assume you've met Krad?"

Demi nodded. "Yeah… so?"

"Dark is also Krad's nemesis," she said matter-of-factly. "Krad told me he didn't want to be real. He was happy as a piece of artwork. But Dark wanted to steal. Dark was his other half- the other half of the artwork, too- and he, unlike Krad, was born from negative feelings." Rayen's eyes narrowed dangerously, and Demi wondered if Rayen just really liked Krad or if she really hated Dark for her own personal reasons. "He was evil, but a sucker for women." Demi thought she saw the glint of tears in Rayen's eyes, but when Rayen blinked again, it was gone. "Anyway, Krad wants to put an end to him before he does something really horrible… something much worse than stealing."

Demi blinked, her jaw dropping, and sat on the edge of the tub, fearing that if she stood any longer, the new knowledge she'd just gained would cause her to fall over. "Wow… I never even imagined… He's so popular at school…" Demi then gasped and stood quickly. She almost lost her balance, her legs still feeling a little weak from taking all this information in at once, but she gripped the sink and steadied herself. "What're we gonna do? How come Krad hasn't stopped him!"

Rayen sighed sadly and answered, "He hasn't had enough power. That's where you and I come in. You're to gather the artworks with power."

Demi nodded in understanding, but then stopped in mid-nod and blinked confusedly. "Ah… shouldn't it be _you_?"

"It _would…_" Rayen looked off to the side, as if afraid that Demi would be angry with her for saying this. "…but I can only take over your body when you feel unrequited love. So… unless you like anyone who doesn't like you back…" she trailed off.

Demi smiled sheepishly, not at all angry with Rayen, but rather a little disappointed in herself. "Uh… not… really. Sorry…"

"Thus is must be _you_ who does the stealing." Rayen said. Demi sighed and hung her head. Her fingers tingled with excitement at the idea of having little adventures every night or so, but she also knew that this late-night thieving would put a major dent in her grade, due to all the homework that would probably go unfinished.

"But wait…" she muttered, looking back up to the mirror. "Aren't we being just as bad as Dark?"

Rayen shook her head calmly. "No… because we're doing the world a favor by getting rid of him."

Demi thought for a moment, still having scruples about all this. "Hm…" she hummed, thinking.

Rayen, to keep Demi from feeling guilty by thinking of all the criminal things she'd be doing, said, "Hey… aren't you late for school?"

CHAPTER THREE END

**Hotaru:** xD I love that ending.

**Demi:** I don't. I'm gonna get chewed out because of your sadistic sense of humor.

**Hotaru:** Which makes it all the more enjoyable.

**Dark:** Well, readers… today we're doing something different.

**Daisuke:** We're responding to your reviews! YAY!

**Satoshi:** Except Liz's. Hotaru responds to her reviews when she sees her at school.

**Krad:** O-kaaay… so, alchemistangel thinks the story is cool and asks to write more.

**Hotaru:** Thanks and already doin' it. –smile-

**Dark:** Chaki Chu says that Hotaru puts us all in-character and says we're funny. –blink- Hey, what's so funny!

**Demi:** Dark, calm down! Geez. –peers- She also says she loved my "Phantom Thief Demi" thing. Heh. –grins and claps once- So did I! Funfunfun.

**Dark:** I don't want competition! I want my Forbidden Flower! –pout-

**Daisuke:** -sweatdrop- I don't know him. –reads a review- nightchild00 says that the story is really good. Thank you! -bows-

**Satoshi:** kc loves this story, and says Demi isn't a Mary-

**Hotaru:** HEY!

**Satoshi:** …an _M-S_…

**Hotaru:** -gives a thumbs up-

**Satoshi:** …is smart, and funny. Oh, and cool. –nods-

**Demi:** -cries with joy- I've never felt so appreciated before!

**Rayen:** Don't get used to it. Soon they'll all be worshipping _me_.

**Demi:** -twitch- _Anyway…_ Nameless (all they put was a period) wants to know what an… M-S… is. Well, they're basically 'perfect characters' or 'author insertion'… like a character based on the author.

**Hotaru:** I must admit, Demi is mostly based off of me in personality and slightly in appearance. Her hazel eyes are my friend's, however, and my hair is only straight when I straighten it with a Chi iron. Although, I don't understand why I can't base my characters off myself… when people ask to make my character more 'real'. How more 'real' can you get than an actual person? And what actual person do I know better than myself?

**Demi:** That 'author-insertion' crap is an oxymoron.

**Dark:** And perfect characters are basically good-looking with intelligence, money, members of the opposite gender fawning over them constantly, and are friends with everyone. Oh yeah, and they hate the bad guys. Sometimes they have overly-tragic pasts. Sometimes they have perfect lives. M-Ses come in many flavors.

**Hotaru:** I try very hard not to make my character M-Ses nowadays.

**Krad:** Anyway, Sakuya-chan says she can sympathize with Demi for being plain and ordinary, and asks for Hotaru to write more soon.

**Hotaru:** Hee hee. You 'n' me both, sister. Although, I think I may have become less plain… -shrug- I'm getting a little more attention from the male population this year.

**Demi:** -grumbles- Lucky.

**Hotaru:** Anyways, I hope this chapter was written soon enough for you.

**Dark, Krad, and Rayen:** -spread their wings-

**Krad:** -picks up Demi-

**Dark:** -picks up Hotaru-

**Hotaru, Krad, Demi, Rayen and Dark:** See ya next time! –flies away-

**Satoshi and Daisuke:** HEY! –runs after them-


	4. The Drop of Colours

Disclaimer: HA! I HAVE IT! –holds up the deed to D.N.Angel- Yay! –Dark swoops down and steals it- WHA! –gapes and sinks to knees, mourning the loss of her chance to own D.N.Angel- Why me…?

Author's Note: Dark… I'm gonna hurt you for that.

**Dark:** -has already given the deed to Sugisaki- Uh-huh. If you can catch me.

**Demi:** -pokes Hotaru- You can't fly.

**Hotaru:** …Oh yeah…

**Daisuke:** We know, this chapter came out extremely soon.

**Satoshi:** Hotaru is in a HUGE D.N.Angel phase. Watching the DVDs,

**Krad:** Reading the manga,

**Dark:** Making fanart,

**Daisuke:** Reading fanfictions,

**Demi:** And… wait… there isn't anything else…?

**Hotaru:** Yep.

**Demi:** -gasp- NOT AGAIN!

**Hotaru:** To make up for it, would you like to introduce the next chapter?

**Demi:** -squeals- THANK YOOOOU!

**Dark:** -feels like being mean to Demi today- Here's chapter four: The Drop of Colours.

**Demi:** -gapes- HEY!

CHAPTER FOUR START

Demi groaned, forty minutes late as she walked into the school. She hadn't had time to do anything but put her uniform on. Her hair, now dry from running, was tangled and frizzy. She ran her hands through it in an effort to tame it, but no avail. Her lips went gloss-less, though she couldn't say that was a bad thing. She still had to get used to that junk.

She slapped her forehead and ran her hand down her face in a frustrated manner, then stopped walking. What… was that…? Demi ran her hand over her nose and her eyes widened. She could feel bumps. She felt on the tops of her cheeks a little ways under her eyes, on her lower cheeks, and on her chin.

Demi, now panicked, ran into the bathroom. Bumps, bumps, bumps! She couldn't have broken out in acne in forty minutes, could she? Upon looking in the mirror, she saw…

…She hadn't.

Demi raised her eyebrows and felt those parts of her face again, whimpering upon feeling the small bumps. "Acne that… I can't see?" she asked herself. "Rayen, what is- Rayen? You there?" Demi whispered, listening. She could hear Rayen snoring lightly in her head. Some help she was.

As Demi walked out of the bathroom, she groaned and put her face in her hands, walking to the Attendance Office. Her overactive imagination began working its magic to make her even more stressed. Immediately she thought, _"What if I meet a cute guy today and he actually likes me? He'll touch my face and be all, 'EW!' and then I'll be mortified!"_ Demi sighed and whined slightly at the thought.

She half-heartedly filled out the attendance office's form for late kids, saying she'd missed the train, and picked up her tardy pass from Nakashima-san. She was about to walk away when Nakashima-san called to her.

"Demi-chan!" Demi sighed a bit irritably and walked backwards until she was at the Attendance Office door's window.

"Yes, Nakashima-san?" she questioned, trying to sound a little less annoyed.

"Did you hear? Dark's going to steal tonight!" Cho fluffed up her crimped shoulder length hair and giggled, her chubby cheeks rosy with giddiness. Demi fought the urge to roll her eyes at this woman's affection for the Phantom Thief. "He's going after The Drop of Colours!"

Demi furrowed her brows, looking confused. "The Drop… of Colours?"

Cho nodded and applied some more of her cherry red lipstick before clicking on a link on her computer. Demi noticed she was on that website about Dark again. "Eight inches high, five inches wide, five inches long. A solid teardrop-shape of glass, tinted with all the different colors of the rainbow." There was a picture and Demi glanced at it, nodding slightly.

"Well, I should be going…" Demi muttered, starting off. She wondered whether or not The Drop of Colours had power that Krad needed. A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth at the idea of humiliating Dark by stealing it before him. She made a mental note to ask Rayen about it later.

The bell for second period rang and Demi sighed. She'd missed all of first period already? Students poured out of the classroom doors and flooded the halls, herding each other this way and that.

Amidst the loud murmur of mixed chatter, Demi heard someone call her name. She turned to find Daisuke weaving through people to get to her. "Where have you been?" he asked upon reaching the plain girl.

Demi's creative brain had already made up a lie. "My alarm clock ran out of batteries in the middle of the night or something… so it didn't go off this morning." Daisuke nodded.

"Oh. Well, we didn't do much in Algebra anyway," Daisuke said with a smile.

Demi blinked and held up her schedule. "But… I have Geometry Honors…"

Daisuke blinked and leaned to the side, peering at her schedule. Sure enough, her first period was Geometry Honors. "What? You had Algebra I yesterday…" ((A/N: For those of you who are confused, that reads 'Algebra One'. Y'know… roman numerals.))

Demi shrugged. "I guess they put me in there because they hadn't had a chance to see my scores…"

Daisuke sighed. "Now you don't have first period with me…" Demi laughed at how disappointed he sounded and Daisuke blushed a little. "Well, y'know… I want to have as many friends with me as possible…" He snatched her schedule and looked over it. "We have Biology, Art, Culinary, Drama, and P.E. together…" He grinned cheekily. "You only have two classes without me!"

Demi smiled, too, and high-fived him. "Alright then, let's stick together! Every project we have, we'll team up so we don't have to be with people we don't know. We must avoid the awkward silences at all costs!" Demi said the end as if the fate of the world depended on it, which made Daisuke laugh.

…_After school…_

Demi and Daisuke sighed simultaneously. "So much homework…" Daisuke muttered. Demi nodded in agreement.

"I can't believe the amount of junk we have to do!" Demi cried exasperatedly. "In Geometry Honors, I have two pages worth of homework! I have to write a short story for Reading, too… and we have those three drawings from that landscapes book to do in Art…"

"I know!" Daisuke said, equally wound up. "We already have a lab in Biology that we have to finish by the day after tomorrow! In Algebra I have forty-five problems to do, and I have to learn fifteen more English words on my own!"

Demi blinked and nodded. "Oh, yeah… that stupid lab…" She shrugged. "Well, at least that's easy. And drawing isn't so bad, but it still adds to homework." Daisuke nodded.

"I'm horrible with English… it's too confusing," Daisuke murmured pitifully. Because of late-night stealing as Dark, he never got the chance to really study it enough to get it.

Demi laughed. "I can teach you!" Daisuke tilted his head at her, confused. "I don't have to take English because I already know it, so you can just ask me to help you."

Daisuke's sorry expression turned to that of relieved happiness and gratitude. "Thanks, Demi." Demi took out a notepad from her messenger bag and began writing English words on it, then what they translated to in Italian. She also wrote how to pronounce the words and then ripped the page out, handing it to him.

"Here ya go. English made easy," Demi chirped. She turned and began walking off.

Daisuke slowed and then stopped, watching her confusedly. "But… aren't our houses this way?"

Demi turned, walking backwards to talk to him. "Yeah, but I have to stop and get some things. Errands for my parents, y'know?"

Daisuke took a step forward. "Maybe I should come with you!" His voice rose in volume as she got farther away. "You don't know the way to your home, do you?" he asked in a half-shout.

Demi rounded a corner and was gone. Daisuke hesitated, wondering if he should follow her to make sure she got home all right. Dark yawned in his head and said,_ :She can fend for herself. Besides, you've got to get as much homework done as possible so we can arrive at the museum on time.:_

Daisuke turned with a sigh, casting one last glance in Demi's direction before starting home at a run.

…_Thirty minutes until Dark's designated time…_

Demi was lost again. She looked into her messenger bag at the things she'd bought. There was a thin black long sleeved turtleneck sweater. It was stretchy and would cling to her if she wore it, meaning it wouldn't flap around while she snuck around a museum. There was also a pair of black jeans and a black ski mask. She lifted the sweater up to check for the last items. Upon seeing the black belt, cloth glasses cases, small and medium-sized flashlights, black gloves, a watch, and black scrunchies, she nodded.

It was a start, but she knew she'd need more. For now, this would do._ "So Rayen, is The Drop of Colors something we're looking for?"_

There was a pause as Rayen thought, and then she responded, _:Yes.:_ Demi checked the new watch to see there were thirty minutes left before she had to go do her 'Phantom Thief Demi' thing again.

Catching up with a girl all dressed up, Demi asked, "Hey, where is Dark going to get The Drop of Colours, again?" The girl turned, and Demi recognized her as Risa. Risa also recognized Demi and surveyed her.

"He's not going to look twice at you, you know," she said matter-of-factly. Risa flipped her hair over her shoulder and put her hands on her hips. "We were going out once, but it just wasn't working… for me." Demi blinked at the slight hurt in her voice. She could tell Risa was lying partially, but she could really care less.

"Good for you. So, where?"

Risa sighed and looked in the right direction. "The Museum of Masterpieces. It's where all the best artworks are held." Her brown eyes watered a little and she started walking away. Demi could hear her mutter, "I never did get to find out why he doesn't always go after the best art…"

Demi blinked, confused by her words, and shook her head. She knew why Dark didn't just go after the most expensive artwork. Not all artwork had power to be harnessed. Demi shrugged it off and ran ahead of Risa. It was starting to get dark. 6:30 PM was fast approaching.

Demi ran to the park from the other day. She couldn't see the searchlights just yet, because she was in a part of the park that was thick with trees. Here Demi changed into her new clothes and stuffed her uniform in her messenger bag. She moved some things around so she'd have enough room to put The Drop of Colours in there. Then Demi ran to the clearing in the park where the playground was. After finding the searchlights, she headed off.

((A/N: YES! Another adventure for me to write out! Funfunfun.))

Upon coming to the museum, she put her hair up in a bun with one of her new black scrunchies and took out the ski mask, but didn't put it on yet. She mingled with the crowd of people being held back by the police, looking over the museum. _"By the way, Rayen, I'd like to do this on my own, okay? I don't want you to tell me what to do."_

_:Well, alright. If you think you can do it…:_ Rayen said. _:Call me if you need any advice.:_

((A/N: Okay, I'm going to describe the layout as best as I can. Please tell me in a review if I did it well enough. If you absolutely can't imagine it, I will draw it and upload it onto my deviantART account so you guys can have an idea.))

The museum had large black structures that cast dark shadows here in there in the front. Police cars were parked around the museum, and there was a man barking orders through a megaphone. Next to him, on the hood of the police car he was standing by, was a khaki trench coat. The people in the crowd were fifty yards from the museum and getting a little antsy, because tonight was pretty humid. This museum was very big, and only had three floors. Demi studied the man's hair, which was very wild. She slowly began picking out pieces of her hair from her bun and rubbing her hair to make it as untidy as his.

Demi then pushed a woman into another woman, and then quickly got on her hands and knees and crawled away. She grinned as she heard the women start to altercate. People around the women started to join in, telling them both to shut up so they'd be able to hear when Dark got there. While she crawled out of the crowd, Demi made sure to slam her fist or knee on some people's feet, causing more fights to break out. As the police holding the crowd back were distracted with the fight, Demi sprinted for the structure. She hid in the darkest of shadows, pressing herself against the arrangement, as the bossy man turned to see what was going on. Demi grinned and slipped out of the shadows, hiding behind police cars and distracted police as she crept toward him.

He lifted his megaphone to his mouth and commanded, "Front force with the exception of the searchlights, come settle this!" A chorus of "Yes, Detective Saehara!" sounded. He turned and sighed crankily, grabbing for his trench coat. He blinked when he didn't feel it. Looking down, Detective Saehara saw it was gone. "Wh-where is it?" He leaned into the window of the police car he'd been standing by, searching for his coat in its interior.

Demi snickered and pulled the trench coat on, lifting the tall collar up to cover her bun. All that could be seen from the back was her now unruly hair, which she made even more so to cover her face. Demi wasn't as tall as Saehara, so she bowed her head as if she was slouching over in anger. She stepped up to the museum's front doors and growled in a convincing enough imitation of the Detective's voice, "There was a problem reported in the basement of the museum. Five men are down."

The young police officer opened the door for Demi, thinking she was Saehara, while ordering that the first floor unit to go check out the basement into his walkie-talkie. Demi smirked and walked inside, several officers running past her when she entered. She followed them to the basement and shouted in the same imitation, "Go, go, GO! We can't let him get away!" Once all the duped police officers were in the basement, she slammed the door and ran over to the other side of the hall, pulling the heavy bench over to the door. She put that in front of the door, and then quickly put many pieces of fragile artwork on the bench and around it. Demi knew they'd never try to break the door down if those artworks were at stake.

She snickered as she walked away, still carrying on with her act as Saehara. She mused to herself that she'd make a good actress as she ran up the second floor. Demi approached another officer and slumped over to put her hands on her knees, panting gruffly to appear tired. "Our first floor unit has been blocked into the basement!"

"What do you propose we do, sir?" the officer asked.

Demi said in an enraged voice, "Call the second floor unit and get them _out of there_, idiot!" The officer jumped and obeyed, then ran off with his comrades to help the others. With the amount of artwork Demi had put there, they'd take a while to get the first floor unit out. That while was just enough for Demi.

She walked over to a directory and skimmed over it, finally coming to The Drop of Colours. Thankfully, it was on the floor she was on. Demi put her ski mask on and strolled over to the door, walking inside.

"I've been waiting for you…" called a male voice, but it wasn't Dark's. Demi turned only to be tackled to the ground. Her head hit the floor hard and the wind was knocked out of her. When her vision went back to normal and she could breathe again, she was staring into ice blue eyes. She furrowed her eyebrows, confused. Why was the blue-haired guy from school here…?

He was on top of Demi, pinning her down. He lowered himself a little to sneer in her face, and then stopped as his chest came in contact with something soft… something that males most certainly did _not_ have. His eyes narrowed and he moved to lift the mask up. Before he could do so, a voice said in feigned hurt, "Oh, I feel so left out."

Satoshi looked up to see Dark., who laughed amusedly as he added, "And hey! It's Stripper Girl!"

Demi shouted in the high-pitched voice, "I'm _not_ a stripper!" Satoshi glared at Dark and got off of Demi. He leered at her before centering his attention on Dark. Demi noticed a small remote hidden in his hand, and when he pressed a button on the remote, a rope with two glowing orbs on either end shot out of the wall. It wrapped around Dark, pinning Dark's arms and wings to his body. While the blue-eyed guy was busy talking into a walkie-talkie for all officers to report to this room to take Dark into custody, Demi crept over to The Drop of Colours and carefully picked it up. She would have gone unnoticed as she put it in her messenger bag and secured the bag closed, if not for Dark.

"You know, Stripper Girl's attempting to steal The Drop of Colours." Satoshi turned and glared at her, and Dark took out a black feather. The ropes disintegrated as the feather glowed blue and Dark jumped over Satoshi to Demi, moving to take The Drop of Colours from her. Demi backed away and fell out the window, which, to her misfortune, had been unlatched. She screamed and could see a searchlight moving to shine on the window she'd fallen out of. Luckily- or maybe unluckily?- she'd fallen past the window and was now heading for a clump of bushes at the bottom of the museum wall. She quickly took off her messenger bag as she fell and threw it so it would land on the side The Drop of Colours wasn't on. Then Demi hit the bushes.

She groaned and looked up to find the window empty. Looking around, she soon spotted Dark on the roof and out of the path of the searchlights, his eyes fixed on her. Demi grabbed the messenger bag, checking to see if The Drop of Colours was still intact. She sighed with relief to see it was. Demi slung the bag over her shoulder and took off running for the park. Looking into the sky, she saw that Dark followed in hot pursuit.

Demi dove into a cluster of trees and bushes in the wilder part of the park. She was glad that those years of dressing out in P.E. had taught her how to get undressed and redressed quickly, because that's what she did. Soon she was no longer Phantom Thief Demi, but rather Plain Ol' Demi. She could hear Dark's wings flapping as he touched down nearby, and she hid her stuff beneath some thick bushes. Demi took her hair down, finger-combed it, and put it in a low ponytail. She put on a confused expression just in time to see Dark come walking up towards her.

"Demi?" he questioned. She nodded slowly, as if weirded out. "Have you seen a girl in black with a messenger bag run by?"

Demi nodded again and answered, "Yeah… she bumped into me and ran that way." She pointed off to the right. Dark growled and ran a hand through his hair. Demi knew that if Dark went off in search of 'Stripper Girl' and didn't find her, he'd get suspicious. So she decided to stall him. "Why?" she asked, her face fading into mockery. "Did she get to what you were stealing before you did?"

Dark shot Demi a "Shut up" look and Demi giggled. Dark then raised his eyebrows at her. "What're you doing out here at this time of night?" He smirked at her and purred, "Aww. Did Demi come to watch me steal?"

Demi blushed as he leaned close to her and she backed up. "Riku had to go 'cause Risa wanted to. I didn't go to see _you_, I went to make sure Riku didn't get bored."

Dark frowned a little and sighed, righting his posture. "I don't get you."

Demi blinked and crossed her arms. "What's so hard to understand about me? I just don't like you."

Dark turned to her and said, "That! I don't get _that_! Every girl likes me, and it's really annoying to find that one doesn't."

Demi gave him a fake sympathetic look. "Aww, poor Dark. Big bad Demi gave a blow to his ego."

"What did I ever do to you?" he asked, looking a little angry.

"You-!" Demi started to say, but stopped herself. She uncrossed her arms and replied, her voice suddenly softer, "Our personalities just clash, okay?" Demi looked off to the side. She'd just realized that Dark reminded her very much of Drew, the way he was so flirty. She disliked him because of Drew, and that was wrong, but she couldn't help it.

Dark wasn't stupid. He saw the solemn look on her face. "Demi…" he started.

Demi turned her head to look at him, and then shook her head slowly, closing her eyes. Why did he have to be so much like Drew? It made her think of all the romantic failures she'd gone through. It reminded her of how plain she was. It brought up so many negative memories in her mind that tears began to leak out of her closed eyes. She felt a hand gently rest on her head and she opened her eyes, looking up at Dark.

"Hey, now… a sad face really doesn't suit you, Demi." He said quietly, not quite knowing how he could comfort her. Demi laughed, but the choked feeling in her throat made her cough a little. She covered her mouth until the coughing had passed and swatted Dark's hand away.

"It's nothing. I'm fine." Demi then realized she was being a little too chummy with the enemy. Dark was evil, and was probably just being nice to her because she was female. _"He was evil, but a sucker for women."_ The words rang in her head and her face hardened. "I have to go," she said blandly, walking away.

Dark blinked, wondering why all of a sudden she was blocking him out again. And he had been so sure his charms were working, too. Dark watched her disappear behind a clump of trees and wondered why she'd gotten so sad earlier. He blinked and then growled, "And why do I _care_?" The Phantom Thief smacked himself on the forehead, trying to get Demi out of his mind.

"_It must be true what they say, huh?"_ Daisuke questioned. Dark blushed ever so slightly, embarrassed that Daisuke knew what- or more accurately, _who_- he was thinking of. He transformed into Daisuke within seconds. "You want what you can't have." Daisuke finished, beginning the trek home.

…_Back at Demi's house…_

After Demi was all cleaned up, her homework was done (with the exception of the lab for Biology), and she'd eaten dinner, Demi kissed her parents goodnight. She went upstairs and into her room, then over to her messenger bag by the window. She took out The Drop of Colours and placed it on the balcony. With that, she went to her bed and laid down to sleep.

_:Job well done.:_ Rayen praised, yawning afterward.

As Demi drifted to sleep, a blonde-haired angel swooped down from the sky and landed on her balcony. He picked up The Drop of Colours and chuckled, turning it in his hand. He turned toward the window, his eyes golden eyes fixed on Demi, and Krad murmured, "Goodnight."

CHAPTER FOUR END

**Hotaru:** YAY! Man, I love writing those Phantom Thief Demi scenes!

**Dark:** I have admit… they're pretty cool even if I _hate_ getting bested!

**Demi:** Well, you'd better get used to it. We have around twenty-two more chapters of the same thing to go through.

**Daisuke:** -falls over- TWENTY-TWO?

**Hotaru:** Yes. I actually want to make a long story, for once.

**Rayen:** And you're going to draw out the romance slowly?

**Hotaru:** I'm gonna try.

**Krad:** And you're not gonna give away too much of the plot at once?

**Hotaru:** Yup.

**Dark:** You're gonna let us gradually learn about every character?

**Hotaru:** Uh-huh.

**Daisuke:** And you're really going to try to update sooner?

**Hotaru:** Si. –is a Spanish nerd-

**Satoshi:** And you're gonna try to develop your characters a little?

**Hotaru:** Arrrgh… which is Pirate talk for yes!

**Demi:** And… -blink- Hotaru, you're so mean to me. You keep giving everyone else something to say, but not me.

**Hotaru:** Because I like messing with you. –grin- But you can respond to Janice's review!

**Demi:** -claps once- YAY! Okay, so… Janice says the story is cool and wants Krad and Dark to hug her.

**Hotaru:** -gets out her slave whip- HUG THE WOMAN, YOU FOOLS!

**Krad and Dark:** -gasps and hugs Janice- WE OBEY!

**Demi:** She also says the story's interesting and-

**Satoshi:** wishes Hotaru good luck on finishing it.

**Demi:** -gapes- I was interrupted… again! –tackles Satoshi-

**Satoshi and Demi:** -start fighting in one of those cartoon dust clouds-

**Daisuke, Dark, and Rayen:** Demi! –jumps in to help her-

**Krad:** Satoshi! –jumps in to help him-

**Hotaru:** Uh… -blinks as the fight starts moving away- If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. –jumps in-

**All:** -fights off-


	5. Dainty Firefly's Scepter

Disclaimer: I OWN YOUR PANTS! …But not D.N.Angel. Only Demi and Rayen and stuffers.

Author's Note: Good God.

**Dark:** What?

**Hotaru:** Some people are just… bleh.

**Daisuke:** Where?

**Hotaru:** Here. Read this.

**All:** -reads and cracks up laughing-

**Demi:** Goodness!

**Hotaru:** I seem to attract idiots…

**Rayen:** Maybe it's 'cause you're one, too?

**Hotaru:** Yeah, but in the good way. Not in the "Here! Let me be an annoyance because I can! Hee hee HEE!" way. –cough- Anyway, I could reply to all that, and I probably will, but later. I'm too lazy as of now, so that girl can kiss my a-

**Krad:** AS HOTARU WAS GOING TO SAY… here's chapter five.

**Dark:** "Dainty Firefly's Scepter".

CHAPTER FIVE START

On the way to school the next morning, Demi touched her nose again and groaned. "They're not going awaaaay…" she whined, sighing moodily.

_:What isn't going away: _Came the much more mature voice of Rayen.

"_These bumps on my nose. I have no idea if they're acne or what… I can't see them or anything."_ Demi thought back. She could hear Rayen 'hmm' thoughtfully in her mind.

_:Well, you wash your face, don't you:_ Demi nodded. _:You exfoliate:_ Demi raised her eyebrows.

"Uh… I don't make it a habit of going to the beach and rubbing sand in my face," she replied allowed, sounding if Rayen's question were the stupidest question in the history of forever.

_:…Idiot.:_ Rayen said flatly, her face settling into a slightly annoyed look at Demi's ignorance. _:You do know that you have to exfoliate your skin before you wash it, don't you? And there are LOTION-type things that you use, not stinkin' beach sand.:_

Demi blinked. "Really?" she asked. She bit her lip and blushed sheepishly. "I… I never knew that…" she murmured.

_:Well, that's obvious.:_ Rayen responded, crossing her arms in Demi's mind.

An indignant expression came onto Demi's face. _"And just what does that mean?"_ she asked, offended.

_:Look at you:_ Rayne exclaimed, throwing her arms up in slight frustration. _:You don't know anything about maintaining your appearance, do you? It makes my skin crawl to know I work so hard to look they way I do and then I'm stuck in the body of a girl who doesn't care.:_

Demi looked down at the ground, her eyebrows furrowing and her eyes tearing up in anger. _"I've been called plain by my peers, by Dark, and now by you, Rayen?"_

Rayen groaned and said, _:No! I'm just saying… uhg. Look, I'll teach you a thing or two about maximizing your assets, alright?"_

Demi was still miffed that Rayen hadn't apologized or anything, but she smiled a little at the thought of learning something about being prettier. "Well… alright…" she answered, wiping the tears from her eyes as she walked into school. For once, she was actually on time.

As she passed the attendance office window, she heard a "Yoo-hoo! Demi-chan!" She stopped and cringed. Nakashima-san. Demi had to admit she was a nice lady and she could provide some good information on what Dark was stealing, but the woman was a bit clingy.

Demi, unable to be mean and just brush her off, turned and smiled politely as she walked over to the window. "Good morning, Nakashima-san!" She glanced over at the older woman's computer and couldn't help but grin in amusement to see she was- once again- on the Dark website. "You sure do visit that site a lot, don't you?"

Cho laughed and answered, "Well, I am the webmisstress, after all!" Demi blinked and looked at the website. It had a wonderful layout, very complicated HTML, CSS, and JavaScript on it, she could tell. Plus there was a lot of information, rumors, history, pictures, video files, sound files… there was everything. Demi had tried her hand at making websites before, and she had barely been able to make a decent fanfiction page on a free website host. She was truly impressed.

"Wow, it looks great!" she chirped, taking a little more interest in her older acquaintance. "Hey, found any leads on Dark?"

Cho chuckled merrily. "My! Someone's quite interested!" Cho winked at her as she teased, "Hoping to catch his attention, huh?" Demi blushed as Nakashima-san continued to tease her.

"Can you just… drop the teasing, already?" Demi muttered quietly.

Nakashima-san shrugged, "Whatever you say, Ms. Mousy!" Demi twitched at the name. She couldn't imagine being married to Dark. It was just… weird. "Anyway, he's going after the Dainty Firefly's Scepter tonight." She clicked the correct link and the picture loaded. A silver rod about as tall as Demi was shown. Purple gems engraved in patterns that looked strangely like an ancient language spiraled up the rod until they reached the top. There a large black stone sat. Sturdy yet thin silver wires criss-crossed and entangled themselves in one another about an inch away from the stone, wrapping around little purple gems in randomized places to hold them in place in the air.

"It's said that this scepter belonged to a Firefly Fae, more specifically, the Princess of the Firefly Fae. The myth goes that the Princess fell in love with a human, and she promised to find a way to become human or turn him into a Fae. But he grew impatient and fell in love with a human woman, so the Princess used her magic to kill the two out of her own jealousy." Demi rolled her eyes. She could do without the legends. All she needed was the information.

"So, where is this Princess's scepter being held, and when is Dark going to take it?" Demi asked, tilting her head slightly at the picture. Cho clicked the back button, and Demi read aloud, "'On display at the House of Artistic Culture, said to be stolen at 7:30 tonight.'" Demi nodded to Cho and smiled. "Thank you, have a nice day!"

With that, Demi walked off to her first class. It wasn't long before she found the sliding door in front of her, and when she pushed it to the side, she stepped forward to find the blue-haired boy standing there. Now what was his name again? "Ohmygod! Her boobs are like, totally on Satoshi's chest!" whispered one of the girls in their class.

Satoshi raised an eyebrow at her, even after she'd taken a step back and apologized. He stared at Demi, and, though she kept a straight face, wished he wouldn't. His ice blue eyes narrowed ever so slightly and Demi fought the urge to gulp. Did he recognize her bust from the night before?

"You should pay more attention," he said. His tone was not menacing; he wasn't antagonizing her. Satoshi was merely stating a fact, and Demi luckily took it that way. She gave him a curt, stiff nod, and he walked out. She watched him walk down the hall until he turned into the boys' bathroom, and a light blush settled on her cheeks.

The rest of her Geometry class was spent cursing herself for being so idiotic in the presence of such a good-looking guy. She hadn't noticed the night before, probably because it had been dark and she had to concentrate on other things. Demi snuck glances at the back of his head, three rows up and one to the side.

Demi was surprised to find that he was also in her Biology class. To Demi's fortune and misfortune, Satoshi, who had been absent the day before, was invited to work with she and Daisuke. Towards the end of the period, however, she noticed he wasn't as distant or cold as she thought he was. He and Daisuke seemed to be friends, since Satoshi was comfortable talking, joking, and even chuckling a bit with the redhead. Demi made sure to stay out of it, unsure of what to say. A pinkish blush rose into her cheeks again as she began the t-test for their project.

Daisuke's laughter died down after a moment and he looked to Demi, wondering why his newest friend was so quiet. "Demi, you know Satoshi, don't you?" he asked with a blink. Demi gave a slight nod, not looking up. Satoshi looked over, his eyes surveying her before moving down to her paper. Her eyebrows furrowed and she bit her lip, tapping her pencil quietly in an "I know I can do this" manner.

"What seems to be the problem, Demi?" he asked, leaning over a little in his chair to peer at her paper.

Demi's gaze snapped up to meet his, and just as quickly she looked back to her notes. "I must have missed something…" she mumbled. Satoshi heard and, as she was flipping through her notes, pointed to her equation.

"Amanogawa-sensei said to switch the variables if their difference would come out to be a negative number," he stated. He watched as she blinked and looked back to the paper, then flipped through her notes. Her already pink cheeks became a more prominent shade of red and he glanced over, finding that she had the notes about it, but had merely missed them. Satoshi smirked at her funny behavior while she erased her entire equation, pulled her calculator closer, and started over.

"Something wrong, Demi?" Daisuke asked, resting his chin in his hand as he watched her.

Demi looked up at him and blinked for a moment, as if trying to think of what to say. "Oh, no!" she finally said, shaking her head. "No, no, no. Biology's becoming my worst subject, is all," Demi explained, then immediately went back to her equation.

Daisuke frowned slightly, wondering what was going on. She hadn't come across to him as the flustered type, especially not after her first day. He blushed a little when he remembered. No, Demi was bold and unafraid to speak her mind. So what was getting her all worked up?

_:…Hiwatari…:_ Dark growled in Daisuke's head. As Satoshi and Demi began to chat about something, Daisuke zoned out to talk to his alter ego.

"_What about him?"_ Daisuke questioned, glancing at Satoshi. He didn't seem to be doing anything. He was just talking to Demi. Daisuke blinked as something clicked. _"Wait… you're not…"_

_:Not what:_ Dark asked, sounding a bit miffed.

"…_Jealous, ar-"_

_:Shut. Up.:_ Dark interrupted. In Daisuke's mind, if he thought about seeing Dark's face, he could see the redness in his cheeks. Daisuke's red eyes went wide.

"_You are, aren't you!"_

Dark looked away and ran a hand through his hair. _:I can't help it. She doesn't like me, but she likes him? She doesn't even know him.:_

"…_Well… she doesn't know you, either."_ Daisuke fought to keep from laughing at Dark's facial expression that followed. Then he heard Dark mumbling things to himself and Dark cut off their link.

"Ooh, so Riku and Risa came to your rescue?" Demi asked, smiling warmly at Satoshi.

"Well, actually, some officials came to get us. But yes, they did inform them," Satoshi explained. Daisuke blinked, lost, and looked to Demi. She really did look like she was enjoying talking to Satoshi. Her whole face was lighted up, like she felt special because he was conversing with her.

…Riku had never looked like that.

…_After school that day…_

Demi was walking home with Daisuke again, at a faster pace than usual. She planned on really getting ready for stealing tonight. She needed to gather a few things and get some of her homework done. "You know, I need to come over to your house and get my backpack sometime. You took off with it that one day…" she mused aloud, grinning at the memory. It had been on the night of her first theft. When she heard no reply, she looked to Daisuke to find him staring into space. "…Daisuke?" she called.

He blinked and looked to her, just watching her for a minute. Demi couldn't figure it out, but he seemed different. "Do you like Satoshi?"

Demi gasped quietly, not expecting such a question. She quickly composed herself, shrugging nonchalantly. "Yeah, he's a nice guy. I think we could all be great friends. You, me, Satoshi, and Rik-" She was cut off as Daisuke swiftly stepped in front of her and she knocked into him. He grabbed her elbows to keep her from falling, but when she moved to keep walking, he didn't let her budge. "Wha-"

"No, Demi. Do you _like_ him?" Daisuke questioned, his voice urgent. His expression softened and he moved his right hand away from her elbow to brush his fingertips on her forehead gently. "Really like him…?" he asked, sounding rather defeated.

For a moment, Demi couldn't think. She could just stand there, eyes as wide as saucers, and blush. No one had ever been so gentle with her before. Other than family, of course. No one had ever cared so much if she liked someone else, that was for sure. But then she snapped out of it. Daisuke didn't act like this. Something must have happened to him to make him behave funny. Maybe he had a fight with Riku. The point was, she knew he wasn't being this way just because he cared about her.

She gave him a sheepish smile and jumped back. Daisuke, not ready for such a quick movement, lost his grip on her. Demi put a hand on his shoulder and said, "It's alright, Daisuke. Go home, do your homework, and get some rest, okay?" With that, she took off at a run to her home.

Daisuke turned and watched her leave until she was gone. Then a spark of light appeared in his eyes and he blinked. His eyebrows furrowed and he glared up towards his forehead. _"DARK!"_ he shouted in his head. _"What have I told you about taking over without warning me! And to do that, of all things… sheesh!"_ Daisuke blushed and stomped off towards home, grumbling things under his breath at Dark as he did.

Riku blinked where she stood, walking to Daisuke's house from school. She had planned to meet him on the way and took a shortcut to witness the scene that had unfolded. Her chest tightened and her limbs began to hurt at the thought of the caress Daisuke had given Demi. She shook her head and turned around. It must have been some misunderstanding. She'd better just go home and do her homework, to get it out of her head.

…_Later that night…_

Demi stepped up towards the House of Artistic Culture, once again arriving without her mask on. She looked into her messenger bag at her new supplies. There wasn't much else than what she had last time- just a bit of rope, a flashlight, printed information on every museum in Azumano, a bag of marbles, a bag of hard candy, a bag of beads, and ten packets of sticky notes that read in loopy cursive, "Hope you don't mind if I 'borrow' something! Love, Rayen."

"_Still don't see why we're gonna tell people about us…"_ Demi thought, but received nothing but a chuckle from Rayen. Demi rolled her eyes and walked forward towards the crowd, weaving her way to the front. She watched as the guards that were going to hold back the crowd made their way over. Like last time, she put up her hair and put the mask on. The people in the crowd were too excited to take real notice of her.

Demi surveyed the area, a plan already formulating in her mind. The museum's front was pretty barren- just grass, really, except for a fountain in the middle. The fountain spouted water up into the air around the circumference of the fountain, and Demi could barely make out the statue of an angel with folded wings behind the curtain of water. _"Perfect."_ She thought. The fountain, however, was about ten to thirteen yards away.

There was one police car parked about three yards away with its door open, and yet another parked right next to the fountain. From where she stood, the decorative clumps of trees and bushes around the museum's land were within throwing distance of the fountain. It would be a very difficult throw, yes- most likely one that would injure her shoulder from jerking it. It was a disadvantage she'd just have to live with, she decided. After the police car near the fountain, the museum was only seven feet away.

_:Break a leg but don't break a leg- you know what I mean:_ Rayen thought to her, a confident smile in her tone. Demi nodded and took out a handful of marbles.

The police that had been approaching were about five feet away, and she discreetly scattered the marbles onto the ground in front of the crowd. One by one, the unsuspecting policemen stepped on some marbles and slipped, flailed, then began to tumble towards the crowd. Demi watched carefully, then ducked out of the way of a policeman and darted for the nearest police car. She dove inside and curled up in the foot space of the passenger's seat, her heart pounding as she heard the commotion.

"What has been going _on_ lately! Damn!" grumbled a police officer as he leaned in through the passenger's seat window. Demi held her breath, and luckily she went completely unnoticed as he slipped out after grabbing his walkie-talkie, which was blasting orders for officers to settle things down over at the gate.

Demi peeked out, watching as officers left their posts to help the tripped-up officers. Still, though, there were plenty of police scattered about. They were all, however, peering over at the ruckus she had caused. She looked to the fountain and carefully crawled out of the car, sliding onto the ground.

She began to half-crawl half-slither over to the fountain. It was dark enough by now so that her black clothes blended in well enough with the grass. And, since she was crouched so low to the ground, she was just barely out of the numerous officers' fields of view. When she reached the fountain, she tentatively but quickly jumped through the small space between the pillars of water.

Demi climbed onto the angel statue. As she sat on the angel's shoulders, she looked out. The angel's folded wings hid her from view of others, and the water shot up to her nose's height, also hiding her from view. It was the perfect place to hide, for now.

"There! It's Dark!" Demi gasped quietly, but didn't bother to waste time looking at him. She had to hurry if she wanted to beat him to the Dainty Firefly's Scepter. Demi took out handfuls of hard candy, beads, and marbles. She threw some as hard as she could into the trees and bushes. Though she was too far to hear it, she could see the rustling leaves and branches, and the officers near the area heard, too. They began to investigate the trees and bushes. As for the rest, Demi threw marbles, hard candy, and beads at the other police cars in the area, hitting the one by the fountain last. All the alarms began going off, causing the remaining officers to gather around the cars, scrambling around to find the keys to turn the alarm off.

Demi climbed down quickly, dropping one of her prettiest marbles into the fountain. "I wish for luck," she whispered, taking a deep breath. She eyed the officers around the car near the fountain and, when they were all preoccupied with the car, she hopped out of the fountain behind them, making a break for the museum.

Demi smiled as she neared the doors, but gasped when Satoshi began running in front of her for the doors. She almost stopped, but noticed he was running into the museum as well, and hadn't seen her in his haste. She ducked behind the door was he swung it open, then hurried herself inside before the door closed.

As Satoshi ran to the back of the museum, she ran, too, trying her hardest to stay in step with him. It was a good thing she had taken one year of band and knew how to count out a rhythm, because it really helped. Still, she slipped her hand into her bag and pulled out some more hard candy, just in case.

It was a smart thing to do, too, seeing as doing so had caused her to lose track of her count, and Satoshi whirled around to face her. Demi, who had been rather close behind, squeaked and dodged to the side. As she heard him begin to pursue her, she threw the candy behind her and kept running. A fraction of a second later, she heard the thump of his body hitting the ground, as well as clatter of glasses.

Demi's heart thumped in her chest and she clasped her hand over it, afraid it would burst out of her chest if she didn't. She kept running. She didn't know why police officers stationed around didn't come after her at the sound of her fast-paced footsteps. Maybe they thought assumed they were the steps of a fellow officer? It didn't matter. What did matter was the exhibit in front of her. She skidded to a stop and pressed herself against the wall, peeking into the room.

The police officers stood around the Dainty Firefly's Scepter, which was rested on a plush velvet cushion. She bit her lip, trying to think of a way to get past them, when a blue aura surrounded each of them. Demi's eyes widened as she watched them fall to the ground. She stepped out of her hiding place and into the room, gawking, when she heard a familiar voice say, "Too easy."

Demi gasped, and almost called out his name in her normal voice. She managed to keep herself from doing so by turning the words into coughs, and then squeaked out in that horridly high-pitched voice, "Dark!" All the while, she hurried over to the Dainty Firefly's Scepter.

Dark dropped down in front of her, causing her to knock into him. He snaked his arms around her waist and watched her struggle, chuckling lightly. "We've gotta stop meeting like this," he murmured into her ear. Demi pushed on his chest, managing to get six inches between them before he tightened his grip on her. Her elbows gave way and she ended up pressed firmly against him.

Dark hadn't been expecting the sudden slip, either, and their lips met. At that moment, a thousand curses ran through Demi's head, berating herself for thinking it would be a good idea to cut a mouth hole. Tears welled up in her eyes at the thought her first kiss was ruined, and she moved to jerk away.

Dark, however, had other plans, thus he moved one hand behind her head to keep her there. First off, a kiss was the perfect way to daze her and run off with the Dainty Firefly's Scepter. That is, if he himself didn't get dazed. The Phantom Thief couldn't place it, but kissing this girl gave him a vast amount of satisfaction, like he'd finally triumphed over someone.

Really, he kind of enjoyed the kiss. She didn't move her lips at all, which was a bit ego deflating, seeing as it basically told him she didn't want to kiss him. Nonetheless, her lips were soft. She didn't wear any lip-gloss, but it was a good thing. Sticky lip-gloss over his lips wasn't exactly Dark's favorite thing.

His hold on her softened, and Demi took this opportunity to give one hard shove. He lost his hold, and, once again, was reminded of Demi. This time he remembered earlier that afternoon, when he had taken over Daisuke's body. He narrowed his eyes at her, scrutinizing her as ran over and grabbed the Dainty Firefly's Scepter, then ran out of the museum.

"_Dark! What are you doing? Are you just going to let her get away like that? And what have I told you about kissing girls like it's a sport!"_ Dark rolled his eyes at Daisuke's scolding and spread his wings, exiting the museum through a window at the top of the wall.

_:There are too many similarities.:_ he answered, flying out of sight of the officers. He scanned the ground below for Stripper Girl, but couldn't find her.

"_What are you talking about?"_ Daisuke asked. Dark shook his head, beginning to fly towards Daisuke's house.

_:Demi certainly knows how to hide, doesn't she:_ He asked Daisuke, who gasped in return.

"_Dark, that couldn't be Demi. …Well, I know, it could… but Demi's… Demi's…"_ Daisuke hesitated.

_:Smart. Smart enough to think up clever little tricks that could be used for getting into a museum nearly undetected.:_ Dark finished once he reached Daisuke's house. He flew high into the sky, searching for Demi's house in the vicinity. If he remembered correctly, Daisuke and Demi had once talked about how Demi lived close by Daisuke. Dark knew he'd recognize the house from the first night he'd met her.

Daisuke, who could read the inner workings of Dark's thoughts, said, _"Dark, you sure remember a lot of what Demi and I talk about. And you've obviously been listening in and watching her while I'm at school if you know she's smart."_ A pink tint rose into Dark's cheeks, and he felt his heart rate speed up. He faltered in the sky, beginning to hover back down to Daisuke's house. _"…You like Demi, don't you?"_

"I-" He was interrupted as he bent forward, clutching his stomach as the usual uncomfortable warmth became fiery hot. The wave of hot spread through his whole being, and Daisuke dropped down the last three feet to the ground.

As the last of Dark's hold on Daisuke's body slipped away, he managed to whisper in his own voice through Daisuke's lips, "I… love her."

CHAPTER FIVE END

**Hotaru:** Please take note I'm using that word- "love"- in the same general sense that Yukiru Sugisaki does. I mean, Daisuke never really seemed to know Risa all that well, yet he still said, "I love Risa." You have to understand that in mangas like D.N.Angel, "love" is a term used very generally.

**Demi:** Still, I don't see why Dark couldn't love me in four days, because it happens waaay too often in manga that everyone loves.

**Dark:** Meaning, you should all be used to it by now.

**Daisuke:** Anyway, Hotaru's too lazy to think of a clever way for us to leave.

**Krad:** So yeah. We're leaving now.

**All:** See you next time! –leaves-


	6. Transformation

Disclaimer: YOU ARE NOT AS COOL AS ME. …No, not really. I'm not cool at all, seeing as I don't own D.N.Angel.

Author's Note: My throat hurts.

**Dark:** Aren't you going to apologize!

**Hotaru:** …Hm?

**Demi:** For making everyone wait so long for another chapter!

**Hotaru:** Ah… no?

**Everyone except Hotaru:** -Anime fall-

**Hotaru:** Just kidding! I really am sorry, everyone. Here, I'll let the cat out of the bag: The truth is, I go through phases like a rich spoiled brat goes through money. Fast. And like money, I don't usually get the phases back. As in, I like one Anime a lot for like… two months at most, then I find something else or rediscover something else and get obsessed with that. PSST. FYI: I'm currently obsessed with piracy, or, more specifically, CARRIBBEAN piracy. –wink-

**Rayen:** What made you decide to update?

**Hotaru:** I drew Dark naked on my friend's dresser today.

**Everyone except Hotaru:** WHAT!

**Hotaru:** Only to his happy trail! I didn't draw his-

**Dark:** MOVING ALONG…

**Demi:** Here's the long-delayed sixth chapter of Trapped Blossom:

**Rayen:** Transformation.

CHAPTER SIX START

Finally, it was Saturday ((A/N: If they go to school on Saturdays, well… I was uninformed.)). Still, though, Demi's parents were gone by 7:00 AM. They always had to work. As soon as Demi's parents had left, Rayen shouted in her head, _:WAAAAAAKE UUUUUP:_

Demi let out a terrified scream as her eyes shot open, bolting upright. She looked at her bedside clock and her eyes narrowed at the early time. Glad her parents were gone, she screamed, "RAAAAYEEEN!" Demi stood up, walked over to a wall, and purposely walked straight into it head first.

_:Doesn't hurt me, hon'.:_ Rayen said smugly with a snicker.

"Why on earth did you wake me up this late?" Demi asked through gritted teeth, eyes shut tight in pain.

_:Don't you remember? I said I'd train you in the ways of beauty. Now, get your dad's credit card and get on some comfortable shoes, missy: _Demi sighed and nodded, picking out a clean nightie for when she got out.

Six hours later, at 1:00 in the afternoon, Demi was sitting at an outside table at a fast food place, sipping on a strawberry milkshake. She was slightly annoyed at some aspects of her makeover, but she had to admit that Rayen knew her stuff. Demi herself thought she looked like a different person.

Demi had cleanly shaven legs and pits—just like any other day, but this time Rayen had instructed her to use some of the moisturizer she bought on her legs. She was now rubbing them together now and then, marveling at how they felt like she was rubbing satin against satin.

Rayen had made Demi buy exfoliating lotion and some other face products as well. Demi had skipped on using every single item. Instead, she'd taken the easy way out and had merely exfoliated her face and washed it with a washcloth and soap. Now the bumps from the day before couldn't be felt at all.

The once boring, same-length strands were now layered, the longest strands just barely hanging to her collarbone. Rayen had suggested getting them shorter, but Demi complained that they would slip out of a ponytail and bother her. The hairstylist had also straightened her hair with a ceramic flatiron and curled the ends in. Rayen had told Demi that the look was really cute and flirty, so Demi had one of the irons ordered to make her happy.

Demi had bought a whole new wardrobe. She now wore a yellow shirt with a strawberry on her left breast and the word 'SWEETIE' in bold letters next to it. Rayen had picked out jeans that hugged her hips yet didn't make her stomach fat bulge out, and Demi wore those as well. On her feet was a pair of round-toed black-and-white plaid heels. A silver chain necklace with a black leather strip woven in the chain links hung around her neck, the silver heart charm half underneath her shirt. To top it all off, she tied a thing yellow ribbon around her head like a headband and put a hairclip with a strawberry on it next to the bow.

Rayen had made Demi trek back home and put on some black mascara. They had tried eyeliner, but Demi couldn't put it on right, so she ended up just washing it off. Demi put on a little bit of gold eye shadow and some pink lip-gloss. It must have been the mascara or something, because Demi couldn't believe she looked so nice when she looked in the mirror.

"Five… hundred… dollars," she muttered, shaking her head. That was the cost of beauty. Her dad was going to flip out. Demi had thought Rayen planned on spending under one hundred, but she had been wrong. With a sigh, Demi shrugged. She could just pay it off in chores, and usually four hours of chores totaled to fifty dollars. So that was ten days or so. It wasn't too bad.

She stood up and walked to the trashcan, then began to walk down the sidewalk to go back home. Demi walked like Rayen had trained her: with her head held high, shoulders relaxed, one foot almost directly in front of the other, and with a light sway to her hips. Rayen had said it was the way models walked. It was a walk of confidence. Demi smiled and closed her eyes in happiness. Oh yeah. She definitely felt confident.

Demi heard a yelp and a second later a body crashed into her own, making her eyes snap open in surprise as she stumbled back. She looked at the victim and recognized her as Risa Harada. Not wanting to be mean, even if Risa sort of deserved it because of her wise cracks on Demi's first day, Demi asked, "Hey, are you okay?" Risa nodded and Demi helped her up.

Risa stared at Demi, and then blinked twice. "Hey wait… you're that girl my sister hangs out with… the one who wore the boy's uniform." Demi laughed nervously and nodded. "Wow!" Risa exclaimed, smiling slightly. "You sure clean up nicely! Your lip-gloss is a cute color! And where did you find that shirt?" She then gasped, pointing toward the ground. "Your shoes are adorable!"

Demi genuinely laughed at her excitement. "Thanks, thank you, and thanks again!"

Risa then looked very guilty and said, "Hey, I'm sorry for what I said on your first day. I don't know you, so it's not my place to judge you. I think I was mostly stand-offish because I thought you were a or something for dressing so plainly."

Demi felt mildly offended, but just smiled and bore it. "It's alright. I know I used to dress and look very plain. I dunno… I guess I've just turned over a new leaf."

Risa nodded and looked around, trying to think of something to say. She smiled then and offered, "I'm going to the mall. Wanna come with me?" Demi cringed and Risa quickly said, "It's okay if you don't want to. I just thought it'd be nice if we could get to be friends…"

Demi shook her head and her hands, replying, "No, no, no! I've just already been to the mall, and I'm afraid what my dad might do to me if I get tempted to buy even more clothes." Risa laughed and nodded in agreement.

"I actually have been, too. I just couldn't think of anything else," the younger Harada responded, giggling.

Demi blinked and said, "Woah. Wait, I have a good idea. We can go to the mall alright… but let's go and play DDR all day!"

Risa looked hesitant, tugging at her white dress with pink floral designs all over it. "Well, I don't know… I'm not very good at DDR."

Demi laughed and said, "Neither am I! So let's go!" With that, she took Risa's hand and they ran off for the mall, chattering about what kind of songs they like best.

A half hour later, Risa and Demi were taking a soda break. Risa sipped on Diet Coke with lime while Demi slurped down a Grapico. "You know those have like… two hundred-something calories, right?" Risa asked. Demi grinned and nodded.

"I can't resist the grape soda. It's too good, and I never get it at home." Just as Demi threw away her cup, Daisuke, Riku, and Satoshi entered the arcade. Demi smirked, wanting to show off, and stepped onto the DDR platform. She cast Satoshi a daring look, feeling very bold, and he smirked back. As he stepped on the platform beside her, she knew he had taken the challenge.

Risa stood to the side of Demi, cheering, "You can do it, Demi-chan!" Riku and Daisuke were behind Satoshi.

"Stomp her, Satoshi!" Riku cheered. Demi furrowed her eyebrows, faintly wondering since when Riku was such a good friend to Satoshi that she'd cheer for him rather than Demi. As the music started and the words 'Ready?' came on the screen, Demi let the thought go.

The first few arrows began to scroll up, and both Satoshi and Demi hit them perfectly. Then more and more arrows began coming at the song got more and more upbeat and loud. Demi didn't miss any, but she kept losing her combo on the double arrows. She heard the announcer of the game shout, "100 Combo!"

She cringed and tried to keep up. The song ended in the next thirty seconds, however, and Demi was stuck with a measly 58 combo. Glancing over at Satoshi's screen, her jaw dropped to find he had a 231 combo. Demi slouched over and hung her head in humiliation. And she had been practicing for such a long time, too.

Demi looked up to see that she had landed a C, while Satoshi had a double A. She sighed and stepped off the platform for Risa and Riku to play, looking rather dejected. She had wanted to impress Satoshi.

Demi looked over as she felt a hand on her shoulder, and found Satoshi giving her a very slight smile. "You tried your best. There's no need to feel bad. I've just had more practice, is all."

Demi twisted her mouth to one side. "I still feel bad." Satoshi chuckled, which made Demi smile a little. "Thanks for attempting to console me in my deep, deep depression," she joked, though she was serious about being grateful for his efforts.

"'Attempting'? It didn't work?" he asked. Demi nodded, sticking her tongue out at him.

"I guess I'm a bad DDR-er and you're a bad cheer-up-er…er… wait… no… umm…" As Demi tried to rethink her words, Satoshi chuckled again. She wondered if he ever really full out laughed.

"Well, maybe buying you a drink would make me a better one?" he suggested.

Demi immediately gasped in glee and turned to him, asking, "A large Grapico?"

Satoshi nodded. "Of course." He walked away and Demi watched him go, wondering if he was taking interest in her. Whether it was because of her new look or not, she didn't care. This sudden thought made her courageous. When he came back, she took the Grapico and sipped it.

"So Satoshi," she began, taking another sip. The sweet taste of the Grapico encouraged her to go on. "would you like to go see a movie or something with me?"

Satoshi blinked and raised his eyebrows. "A date?" he questioned. She nodded, and he seemed to think about it for a moment. "Sorry, Demi. I already have someone I like." He turned and watched Daisuke and Riku DDR against each other, leaving Demi with her eyes wide and looking a little hurt.

Demi hadn't realized how big of a crush she'd developed on him, and only in a little more than a day! He was everything she'd ever wanted, though. Good-looking, intelligent, nice, and he could take a joke. She had never really thought she'd go for such a reserved guy, but his distant attitude made him mysterious, and mysterious men were almost always alluring.

Suddenly Demi felt warmth in her stomach and hunched over. Had she gotten sick because of drinking so much Grapico and too much DDR? The warmth spread through her limbs, as if it was in her very blood—in her DNA. "I-I'll be back," she stuttered, handing her Grapico to a concerned Risa. Demi bolted out of the arcade and to the bathroom, thinking she was going to throw up. She was glad there was nobody inside, because she'd be embarrassed if she threw up while other people could hear.

Demi almost tripped, but caught herself on a sink. She couldn't breathe. Demi gaped her mouth open like a fish, trying to take in air, but only a little went in. Suddenly she felt faint, and she tried harder. She was _so not_ going to faint onto the icky bathroom floor. Suddenly all the warmth was gone and she could breathe, and she stumbled back. Wind began to blow from beneath her, even though there weren't any windows and the door wasn't open. She closed her eyes and yelped, wondering what was going on.

Demi then felt pressure on her stomach, as if she was being punched. A force pulled her back. She saw the bathroom get swallowed by darkness, and then there was nothing but darkness. _"Wh-where am I! What happened!"_

_:Now you're in my mind, Demi.:_ Rayen answered. Demi closed her eyes and could see what Rayen saw. Sure enough, it was Rayen's reflection in the mirror, not Demi's.

Demi began to panic. _"Wait! My friends are waiting for me! How do I change back?"_

_:Don't worry. I have an unrequited love, too. Krad just doesn't see me as more than an ally.:_ She sighed and Demi had the sensation of riding down a drop on a roller coaster, then her feet touched the ground. Looking in the mirror, she saw that she was back to her normal self.

Demi smiled and giggled. "I don't have to steal anymore! Lalalalaaalaaa!" she sang as she skipped out of the bathroom, earning strange looks from a few girls going in.

She spotted her friends waiting for her outside the arcade. Demi waved as she neared them. "Hey guys! Done with the arcade?"

"More like done for the day. I'm beat," Daisuke answered. Risa, Riku, and Satoshi nodded in agreement. Demi smiled and nodded as well, and they all walked outside.

"I have to get back to the house. I have… chores to do," Satoshi said.

"Risa and I have to get home. I have to cook dinner for her before she goes out to see Dark," Riku explained, and Risa gasped.

"Oh yeah! Demi, I remember you asking where and when Dark was stealing something once… Do you think you want to come with me to see him?" Risa then furrowed her eyebrows and pouted as she added, "But no stealing him!"

"Uh…" Demi started, wondering what to say.

"Oh, wait! Demi, I accidentally took your backpack a few days back. You need to come over and get it, don't you?" Daisuke asked. Demi nodded.

"That's right." She turned to Risa and offered, "Maybe another time, hmm? I'm not sure how long it'll take to get my backpack and bring it back home." Risa smiled and Daisuke and Demi started walking away.

"Well, if you get the chance, he's going to be at the Azumano Aesthetic Appreaciation Museum at 6:30," Risa called. Demi waved to her and then began to walk to Daisuke's house alongside him.

They walked in silence, both a little uneasy about the walk from the other day. Daisuke opened the door for her like a gentleman, and she thanked him. He then looked like he remembered something and said, "WAIT! I have a few chores to do! Don't go inside 'til I come get you, or my mom will be mad!"

Demi blinked as he slammed the door behind him. She jumped as she heard him shout, and heard an explosion. She thought she heard a loud electric current and a couple of bangs, as well. Daisuke then came out, panting. "Okay, all done!" Demi laughed uneasily, wondering what kind of weird chores he had to do.

Daisuke led Demi up to his room and grabbed her backpack from next to his bed. "…Hey, Demi… do you wanna stay over for dinner?" Demi looked at the clock. It was only 2 in the afternoon. She had plenty of time to hang out before she had to leave for the museum.

"Sure, Daisuke! That sounds good to me." Demi gave him a sweet, appreciative smile. Daisuke's eyes widened a little at the cute look.

"E-excuse me. I'm going to go to the bathroom and then we can watch a movie or something to pass the time." Daisuke ran out of the room, leaving Demi alone. She sighed and walked down the stairs, finding the living room. She walked over to the cabinets of the entertainment center, looking at the DVDs there.

Daisuke tried to will down the feeling brewing in him. He was in love with Riku, dammit! But he couldn't help it if Demi was sweet and cute and kind and… "Oh no!" he said through gritted teeth, shutting his eyes tight. "No, no, no, no! I can't transform! Not now!"

And he didn't. Not completely, anyway. 'Daisuke' looked into the mirror and smirked, his eyes looking much more mature. "Well, well, well. Looks like you might have a little bit of feeling for Demi, Daisuke." Dark said. "While I'd prefer to spend time with Demi in my own sexy body, she does seem to think you're cute, so your body will suffice."

Dark walked down the stairs, briefly practicing using Daisuke's voice. He found Demi readying a movie and smiled. "Demi?" he called, sounding exactly like Daisuke. She turned and he gasped. All day he'd been sleeping in Daisuke's mind, and he had yet to see her new look. Until now. Dark felt the warmth in his stomach but willed it down. He wanted to spend time with her.

"What did you pick out?" he asked as he approached her. Demi smiled at him and held up a DVD.

"The Grudge. I love this movie, even though it scares the wits out of me." She laughed a little and mused, "The first time I watched it, I had to sleep with the light on for a week."

Dark grinned and laughed, too. "I haven't watched it yet." He took the DVD remote and pressed 'Play Movie', and then sat on the couch. He smiled and patted the spot next to him. "If you get scared, you can hold onto me or something, okay?"

Demi eyed him, scrutinizing him. There was something different about Daisuke again. She shrugged after a few seconds and turned off all the lights, then sat next to him. At his questioning look, she explained in a mock-ghostly voice, "To set the moooood." Dark chuckled, but was silenced as the movie started.

Demi's eyes widened at one particular part and she whispered, "Oh crud… I know what's coming up." She whimpered and buried her face in Dark's shoulder. Demi dared to take a peek and as she did, the dead Kayako began to crawl down the stairs and groan in that extremely creepy way. Demi cried out in fear and moved to bury her face back in his shoulder. Her movement was too quick and she slipped, falling onto his chest.

Dark wrapped his arms around her and stroked her hair. "It's alright, Demi. You don't have to look," he said softly. Dark didn't bother watching the movie. He pulled her close to him and rested his face in her hair, closing his eyes. It smelled like pineapples. Demi blinked, wondering what had come over her friend.

"Umm… Daisuke? The scene is over now… I can look…" she said slowly. Dark let her sit up and she looked at him. He leaned in slowly and Demi wondered what he was doing, when she heard Kayako's scary groan again. She grimaced and looked to the screen as the credits came on.

The lights suddenly turned on, and Demi screamed. "What's going on in here?" asked an older woman's voice. Demi looked over to find a lady with short dirty blonde hair step into the room. "Oh! Daisuke, who's your friend?"

"Mother, this is Demi. Demi, Mother." Daisuke's mom could tell by the way that he called her 'mother' that Dark had taken over Daisuke's body.

"It's very nice to meet you, Mrs. Niwa," Demi said cheerfully.

"It's nice to met you, too, Demi." Emiko looked to Dark and said, "Dinner is ready. Then you have to do your 'chores.'" She walked into the kitchen and Demi turned to Dark in confusion.

"I thought you just did your chores…"

Dark blinked. "Uh… not all of them, I guess?" Demi nodded, though a little skeptical, and shrugged.

"I have to leave after dinner, anyway."

…_One hour and a half later, at 6:00…_

"It was really nice of you to let me stay for dinner," Demi said.

Dark still had control over Daisuke's body. "It was nice to have you over." He said as they approached her front door. He grinned and smiled, saying slightly flirtatiously, "You sure you don't need me to stay the night to keep you safe from nightmares?"

Demi rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I'm sure." She turned to him and hugged him. "I might see you tomorrow. If not, then I'll see you on Monday for sure." She felt his arms wrap around her waist, and it felt way more than platonic. She shifted uncomfortably. While she didn't mind Daisuke's flirting, she felt bad because Riku was her friend.

Demi pulled away and waved. "Have a safe trip home, okay? Goodnight!" With that, she walked into her house, closed the door, and sighed. "I never thought he could be so bold…"

_:Hurry up and get our things ready, in case something happens while I'm on duty.:_ Rayen suggested. Demi nodded and went up to her room, collecting the things she used for thieving. She changed into her thieving outfit. She packed another outfit in case she ran into anyone who knew her. _:Now change into me.:_

Demi thought about Satoshi and soon she was Rayen. Rayen took out a green orb from her pocket and held it out to Demi's things. The orb glowed and the things were sucked into it. "That will store them in an easier way." Looking at a clock, she continued, "Now it's time to go."

Rayen spread her angel wings and jumped out of Demi's window, taking off into the night. Demi watched, awed by the feeling of flying. _"Showtime!"_

CHAPTER SIX END

**Hotaru:** It didn't come out as bad as I thought it would.

**Demi:** YES! NOW I CAN SLACK OFF LIKE A LAZY BUM!

**Rayen:** -starry eyes- I finally have a chance to show people how adoration-worthy I am!

**Dark:** Nooo! Now they're gonna get the artwork even easier than before!

**Hotaru:** Anyway, I can't tell you when the next chapter will be out. Hopefully soon, seeing as it'll only be two thieving scenes, with some possible catfights between Riku and Demi over Daisuke.

**Daisuke:** Hotaru is sorry, by the way, that she didn't put in a cool thieving scene.

**Hotaru:** Yeah. I haven't thought of what to do yet. I have to sketch out this new museum before I can think of the traps, and then it'll be easy, since Rayen has magic.

**Rayen:** Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh!

**Demi:** Well, I guess there's nothing else to say…

**Dark:** Except…

**All: **Bye! –runs away, screaming for no reason-

**P.S.: I didn't proofread. If you find errors, can you tell me in a review? Thanks!**


End file.
